Cooperation with TU Wien

In a move to deepen their cooperation, TU Wien and the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences have signed an agreement that provides for the two institutions’ strategic collaboration in several topic areas: the development of approaches for the promotion of teaching and research, a cooperative doctoral programme, European Universities, and innovation and entrepreneurship.

When it comes to teaching and research, for example, innovative approaches are to be developed in the field of rail technology and mobility. The objective is to establish and make joint use of strategic business partnerships and to create inter-university competence teams.

“TU Wien and the St. Pölten UAS have already carried out a number of projects together. Our institutions complement each other very well in many areas of research, teaching, knowledge transfer, and innovation. With the new strategic cooperation, we want to deepen our relationships at all levels, exploit synergies even better, and implement exemplary activities for collaboration between different types of higher education institutions”, says UAS CEO Hannes Raffaseder.

“TU Wien is looking forward to the collaboration with the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences because it will make it possible to implement innovative cooperative projects in rail technology and mobility in particular. Within the framework of our strategic partnership, we will also connect our European University Alliances EULiST and E³UDRES² and further expand the Austrian innovation ecosystem for start-ups and for strengthening medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurship. Last but not least, we want to promote collaboration in teaching and research between Vienna and Lower Austria”, explains TU Wien Rector Jens Schneider.

“The cooperation promotes the collaboration between different disciplines and institutions that is so important in teaching and research – in other words, learning from each other – and the possibility to develop something together, thus empowering both parties”, adds UAS CEO Johann Haag.

Joint Doctoral Programme

The two institutions already maintain the cooperative PhD programme “Visual Heritage” which receives funds from the doc.funds.connect programme of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and the Christian Doppler Research Association (CDG). It is dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage with the use of digital technologies. Historical photographs and amateur films are digitalised and analysed.

Under the new cooperation, the programme is to be perpetuated beyond the funding period, and the topic areas broadened.

International Networking

TU Wien and the St. Pölten UAS are also planning a deepen collaboration and joint activities within the framework of two European Universities: E³UDRES² (Engaged and Entrepreneurial European University as Driver for European Smart and Sustainable Regions), which is coordinated by the St. Pölten UAS, and EULiST (European Universities Linking Society and Technology) in which TU Wien is involved.

European Universities are an initiative of the European Union to promote exchange between European higher education institutions on certain subjects.

Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Digital Humanism, and Landuni

Furthermore, the plan entails stronger cooperation in innovation and entrepreneurship, for example within the framework of StartUp Factory GmbH and on the topic of entrepreneurial education.

Another objective is the establishment of a strategic partnership in the context of “Digital Humanism”. This will be complemented by special-purpose joint activities such as the use of Landuni Drosendorf in Lower Austria. Ultimately, the partners want to continually sound out and pursue further possibilities for strategic cooperation.

• E³UDRES²
• EULiST
• PhD programme “Visual Heritage”