New Heads of Faculty and Department

The St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences has grown steadily these past few years. In order to structurally adjust the organisation to this strong growth, the new year has seen the launch of two faculties. The purpose is to promote joint strategic planning and the use of synergies between all departments as well as future-oriented and interdisciplinary development with consideration for the perspectives of all parties involved. In addition to the two new faculties, three of the departments are also under new management.

Steady Growth Requires Further Development

The St. Pölten UAS has grown continuously since its foundation in 1996: Today, with almost 4,000 students, it is a major player both in the Austrian and in the European higher education landscapes.

“Since the last organisational development in 2014, the St. Pölten UAS has grown by 100 percent in nearly all areas. When an organisation experiences such a strong development, its internal structures, processes, and ways of collaborating need to be likewise transformed”, say UAS CEOs Johann Haag and Hannes Raffaseder, thereby explaining the necessity for structural changes.

Six Departments under the Umbrella of Two Faculties

The two newly founded faculties promote common strategic planning and development among the departments:

• The Faculty of Engineering and Business coordinates the teaching and research activities of the Departments of Digital Business & Innovation, Media & Digital Technologies, Computer Science & Security, and Rail Technology & Mobility. It is headed by Franz Fidler who used to serve as Head of the Department of Media & Digital Technologies.
• The Faculty of Health and Social Sciences coordinates the teaching and research activities of the Departments of Health Sciences and of Social Sciences. The new Head of Faculty is Christine Haselbacher, the former Head of the Department of Social Sciences.

At the administrative level, competencies will also be pooled from now on: in the Center for Research and Development and the Center for Study and Organisation.

New Heads of Department

Since Christine Haselbacher and Franz Fidler have been promoted to Heads of Faculty, the Departments of Social Sciences and of Media & Digital Technologies have been under new leadership (both appointed from among the UAS’ staff) since 1 January 2024:

• Katharina Auer-Voigtländer takes over the management of the Department of Social Sciences. She has been a research associate at the Ilse Arlt Institute of Social Inclusion Research since 2010 and has been teaching in the department since 2013. 
• Thomas Felberbauer is the new Head of the Department of Media & Digital Technologies. He has been a lecturer for Industry 4.0 at the UAS since 2016 and Academic Director of the dual bachelor degree programme Smart Engineering since 2018.

Department of Rail Technology & Mobility in New Hands

The Department of Rail Technology & Mobility will soon be under new leadership as well. At his own request, Otfried Knoll will resign his function as Head of Department and Academic Director and retire on 1 February 2024. His position will be taken over by Frank Michelberger who has been active for the St. Pölten UAS since 2010 and Head of the Carl Ritter von Ghega Institute for Integrated Mobility Research since 2013.

“We are very happy to have filled all leadership vacancies with colleagues who are perfectly suited for the jobs and highly motivated. We cordially congratulate both the three new Heads of Department and the two new Heads of Faculty and wish them all the best for their new tasks”, say UAS CEOs Johann Haag and Hannes Raffaseder.