FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Briefly: we try to make it possible that you have a nice university experience and study conditions, we are your official representation towards the university and we support you if you have questions or problems all around your studies. You can find out more about what we do here.

Anyone who is interested can join us anytime. Our members accomplish a huge variety of tasks. Do you want to do something as well or do you have your own idea about a task or project that none of us does at the moment? Come to our meetings and become part of our community!
You can find the dates about the next meeting here.

No! You can study anything at any university to be part of our team. Obviously, you would understand our scope better if you study an Informatics programme at TU Wien.

Because we are students as well we are not able to offer a 24/7 service.
You can find our current opening hours here.

Us!!! We are students at TU Wien as well and are happy to help you if you have questions or problems.

Come by during our opening hours, call us or write us an E-Mail. You can find our contacts details here. Feel free to explore our website as it should answer a lot of questions.

To find the way to your lecture you can use wegweiser.ac.at.

There are lectures where it is useful to buy scripts but quite often it is not necessary.
Scripts from past semesters are still up to date more often than not. We have some of them in our Fachschaft for you to use them. Come along and see which scripts we have and ask us if it is necessary to buy the script of a specific subject.

Feel free to donate us your old scipt you don’t need anymore to keep the collection up to date.

Holidays are called “lecture free time” at universities. During this time there are no lectures but it is possible that you might have exams during this time.

In general, we’ve got our holidays at these times:

• Christmas holidays: two weeks, from Christmas until Epiphany
• Semester break: February
• Easter holidays: two weeks around Easter
• Sommer break: July, August, September

Have a look here for the exact dates.

In general yes, but that’s not too easy. Studies at universities are not aimed at people who work. Especially the first three semesters in the Bachelor’s programme are very time intensive but this will get better in later semesters. In any case, flexible time management stays important!

If you work full time (30+ hours per week) you should think again if you want to study at a university and maybe consider programmes at other places, e.g. colleges (Fachhochschulen).

Having a part time job with flexible working times should be possible in later semesters tho.

Yes! There are many courses and modules that are the same for all Informatics and Business Informatics programmes. Speak to the dean of academic affairs of your academic programme about course recognitions.

Yes! Especially in the first semester this is no problem at all as all academic programmes require almost the same courses to be done (appart from business courses).

Keep in mind: the later you switch programmes the more courses you might have to catch up on.

You need to contact the admission office about your change of programme.

The Bachelor’s programme is aimed to be done in 6 semesters, the Master’s in 4. This is achievable with enough effort.

The average time students need for Bachelor’s programme is varies from seven to eight semesters (Bachelor).

There are scripts for some but not all courses. Usually you can buy them at Grafisches Zentrum in Freihaus or at the institute which is in charge of the course.

You can borrow most of the books you need for your studies from the TU Wien library or at the library of the institute which is in charge of the course.

If you want to buy books go to INTU (inside the library).

You can get official information about subsidies at stipendium.at.

If you have questions about anything regarding subsidies, stipends, studying with children, taxes, housing, law etc. get in touch with Sozialreferat of HTU: htu.at/sozial.

The earlier the better! You can pay the fee until 30 November (winter semester) or 30 April (summer semester).

If you come from outside the EU you need to pay € 745,92  per Semester from the beginning of your studies unfortunately.

You don’t need to pay admission fees if you are an EU citizen and you didn’t study for too long yet. In general, Bachelor’s programmes last 6 semesters but you get 2 additional tolerence semesters. This means that you need to pay fees after 9 semesters of studying in the Bachelor’s programme. The fees are € 363,36 per Semester then.

In any case you need to pay the ÖH fee additionally!

Yes! Every academic programme at TU Wien has got it’s own student union (Fachschaft) which organises a party at least once per semester. Have a look into our calendar to see when the next event’s going to take place! 😉

If you want to start your studies at TU Wien you need to enroll for it. You can do that at the admission office. You can only enroll during the admission period.

Bachelorstudium Wirtschaftsinformatik (Bachelor’s programme Business Informatics):
(this information is provided in German only because you need to know German to be able to apply for this programme)

Seit dem Wintersemester 2016 gibt es für das Bachelorstudium Wirtschaftsinformatik (Kennzahl 033 526) ein Aufnahmeverfahren, das du absolvieren musst, bevor du dich inskribieren kannst. Während dem Verfahren musst du

• eine Bewerbung schreiben, warum du Wirtschaftsinformatik studieren möchtest (muss nicht all zu fancy sein, davor brauchst du echt keine Angst haben – einfach ein paar Gründe angeben und Interesse zeigen passt schon)
• 50€ einzahlen, die du zurückerstattet bekommen wirst
• am Reihungstest teilnehmen, welcher während den Sommerferien stattfindet (beachte, dass du an diesem Test auch teilnehmen musst, wenn du erst im darauffolgenden Sommersemester anfangen möchtest).
  Im Reihungstest werden Problemlösungskompetenz und schlussfolgerndes Denken, sowie Textverständnis überprüft.  Es werden KEINE Programmier- und KEINE Informatikkenntnisse abgeprüft und auch KEINE Vorerfahrungen mit Computern oder Informatik vorausgesetzt.

Weitere Infos und die Registrierung für das Aufnahmeverfahren gibt es hier.

We noticed that beginners usually have problems in these fields:

• Coding: If you’ve never coded before it would be a good idea to learn the basic terminology and principles. There are many books and online courses available that can help you with that. It doesn’t matter which programming language you learn as the concepts are the same in every language – you’ll use Java throughout your whole studies tho.
• Maths: You’ll need maths you’ve learnt at your secondary school for the Bachelor’s programme. Consider revising if you forgot most of it.
• English: Throughout your studies you’ll need to have a decent level of English all the time as you need to read academic texts in English quite often. Furthermore, the Master’s programmes are offered in English only.

Yes – but you need to enroll as a non-degree programme student. You can find information about that at the admission office. Keep in mind that you need to hold a secondary school degree (Matura, A-levels etc.) to have your courses fully recognized for your normal studies.

The focus of WU Wien (as well as the University of Linz) lies in business aspects of the studies. At TU Wien you’ll go more into a technical direction.

In the end it depends on your interests which programme suits the best for you. Get as much information as possible about the programmes from the universities you are interested in.

Jein. Das ist nur dann möglich, wenn du bereits Fächer im Ausmaß von 90 ECTS eines gleichwertigen Studiums an einer anderen Uni absolviert hast, die für Fächer aus dem Bachelorstudium Wirtschaftsinformatik an der TU Wien angerechnet werden können. Über Anrechnungen entscheidet das Studiendekanat.

Yes! You can enroll at the admission office in the summer semester as well. You can see the recommended courses in TISS if you switch to the specific summer semester.

Beachte für das Bachelor Studium Wirtschaftsinformatik (German only):

• Du musst trotzdem das Aufnahmeverfahren im Vorjahr absolviert haben (siehe Kapitel Aufnahmeverfahren).
• Jene Lehrveranstaltungen, welche zur STEOP gehören, müssen in beiden Semestern angeboten werden, daher hast du jedes Semester die Möglichkeit zumindest diese Lehrveranstaltungen zu absolvieren.

Yes! But it might be possible that you’ll need take certain courses as additional requirements. You can find out more about that in the official curriculum of your aimed study programme.

You can find information about that here. The application process usually takes about 10-12 weeks. Therfore, we recommend that you apply early.

The Referat for students from foreign countries of HTU helps you if you have questions all around Visa, insurance, language etc.

If you want to study a programme that is taught in German you need to know German at a C1 level. The Master’s programmes Business Informatics and Master Data Science are offered in English.

You can find out more about the German language requirements at TU Wien here.

STEOP – Die STudienEingangs- und OrientierungsPhase ist dazu da, damit du herausfinden kannst, ob das von dir gewählte Bachelorstudium für dich geeignet ist. Sie ist ein Pool aus mehreren LVAs, die die Grundlage für höhere Fächer bieten sollen. Die STEOP muss absolviert werden, um Fächer ab dem dritten Semester abschließen zu können. Es ist zwar vorgesehen, die STEOP im ersten Semester abzuschließen, die STEOP Fächer werden aber sowohl im Winter- als auch im Sommersemester angeboten.

Die STEOP für das Bachelorstudium Wirtschaftsinformatik umfasst 16,5 ECTS und setzt sich aus folgenden Fächern zusammen:

1. Pflichtteil (13.5 ECTS):
   • VO Algebra und Diskrete Mathematik für Informatik und Wirtschaftsinformatik (4,0 ECTS)
   • VU Einführung in die Programmierung 1 (5,5 ECTS)
   • VO Grundlagen der Betriebs- und Unternehmensführung (3,0 ECTS)
   • VU Orientierung Informatik und Wirtschaftsinformatik (1,0 ECTS)
2. Freie Wahl aus folgendem Pool (mind. 3,0 ECTS):
   • UE Algebra und Diskrete Mathematik für Informatik und Wirtschaftsinformatik (5,0 ECTS)
   • VO Analysis für Informatik und Wirtschaftsinformatik (2,0 ECTS)
   • UE Analysis für Informatik und Wirtschaftsinformatik (4,0 ECTS)
   • VU Denkweisen der Informatik (5,5 ECTS)
   • VU Formale Modellierung (3,0 ECTS)
   • VU Grundlagen der Organisation (3,0 ECTS)
   • VU Kosten- und Leistungsrechnung (3,0 ECTS)
   • VU Objektorientierte Modellierung (3,0 ECTS)
   • VU Rechnungswesen (2,0 ECTS)
   • VU Technische Grundlagen der Informatik für Wirtschaftsinformatik (3,0 ECTS)

Beachte:

• Um in Mindeststudienzeit zu bleiben, ist grundsätzlich vorausgesetzt, 30 ECTS pro Semester zu absolvieren. Das heißt, dass wenn du deine STEOP nach Plan im ersten Semester machst, du schon auch noch die restlichen 13,5 ECTS machen solltest. Wenn du dich aber einfach an die Semesterempfehlung im TISS haltest, machst du das sowieso.
• Um Nicht-STEOP-Fächer aus dem ersten und zweiten Semester absolvieren zu können, ist noch keine absolvierte STEOP notwendig! Diese benötigst du erst für Fächer ab dem dritten Semester.

Nach der STEOP:

Normalerweise erkennt das TISS ob man die Voraussetzungen erfüllt, um sich für höhersemestrige Lehrveranstaltungen anzumelden. Sollte das nicht der Fall sein oder es zu Problemen kommen, schreibt dem LVA-Leiter.

TISS is an online platform where you can register for courses, get your transcript and much more.
TUWEL is an E-learning platform which is used by most courses.

No, but it won’t hurt 🙂 Our tip: go to the first lecture and you’ll notice if the lecturer is good at explaining and if it is worth it to attend the lectures.

Keep in mind that attendance is mandatory in courses like exercises or lectures with exercises etc. tho. You can see if attendance is mandatory on the course page in TISS.

Courses whichs are recommended for a specific semester must not overlap each other. Students must be able to accomplish their studies in the intended time.

Therefore, it cannot be avoided that courses, which are inteded to be done in different semesters, sometimes overlap each other.

If you face overlappings of highly attended courses the first thing you should do is contact the lecturer. We are happy to help you resolving this issue as well.

Semester hours: The amount of hours a lecture lasts each week.

ECTS: The amount of work you need to do to accomplish a specfic subject (attending the lecture, revising, studying for the exam, doing the exam etc.). 1 ECTS credit equals 25 hours of work load. The ECTS system tries to provide comparibility between courses of European universities. This would have not been possible with semester hours only.

There is no registration necessary for pure lectures (VO, Vorlesungen). However you need to register for exercises (UE, Übungen), projects (PR), lectures with exercises (VU, Vorlesungsübung) etc. At these courses attendance is often mandatory.

You have to take care about registrations by yourself! Keep in mind that the lectures have different registration deadlines you need to consider.

Registration can be done in TISS. Go to the academic programme of your choice, click on “Show by semester” and add the courses you want to do to your favourites. Then you can register for the courses you just added.

In rare cases there is a specific registration homepage set up by the institute which is in charge of the course.

You can find Information about that in the Curriculum of the academic programme.

We want to briefly explain the difference between Free Electives and Transferable Skills.

Free electives FRW (Freie Wahlfächer): This can be any course at any university. They intend you to gain a broader knowledge outside of your academic programme. Keep in mind that you cannot do a course as a Free Elective if you already cover topics from it in your programme. For example you cannot do Introduction to programming for Physicists.

 

Transferable Skills TSK (or sometimes in German Fachübergreifende Qualifikationen or Softskills): You need to do courses from the Transferable Skills catalogue in TISS.

Ja! Du kannst bereits während dem Bachelorstudium viele Masterfächer absolvieren. Das ist eine gängige Taktik, die viele Leute machen, wenn ihnen nur noch ein paar wenige VO Prüfungen aus dem Bachelor fehlen.

Beachte:

• Du kannst dich ohne Bachelor Abschluss noch nicht für den Master inskribieren! Du schließt nur Fächer ab und bekommst dafür Zeugnisse. Sobald du den Bachelor Abschluss hast, kannst du dich ganz normal für den Master inskribieren.
• Du solltest diese Fächer dann nicht für den Bachelor anrechnen lassen, da sie sonst nicht für den Master zählen können! Kein Fach kann für ein Bachelor und ein Master Studium gleichzeitig angerechnet werden.

You can find Information about that in the Curriculum of the academic programme.

Yes. You have the right to see the corrected exam during the six months after you got notified about your mark. Furthermore, you are allowed to do photo copies/take pictures of it.

One exception are multiple choice tests. The professor can forbid that you take pictures of a multiple choice test but not to see the exam itself.

In general you can repeat an exam four times which means that you have five chances of passing an exam in total. Keep in mind that the 4th and 5th attempt are done in front of a commission. If you fail all five attempts of an exam you are not allowed to study the affected academic programme at the university.
Attention: for StEOP exams (Bachelor programmes only) you only have four attempts (three repitions).

Can I retry an exam I’ve already passed to get a better mark? Yes. If you get a new mark for an exam you’ve already passed the old one gets deleted. However, this means that it is possible for you to fail an already passed exam as well!

No. If you didn’t deliver anything you cannot be marked for that. Please deregister from the exam anyway because an other student might want to take the exam as well!

Keep in mind that if you stop in the middle of a course like an exercise where you already delivered something you will get a negative mark indeed.

Yes if the covered topics are equal. You need to get in touch with the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs for Business Informatics (at the moment Prof. Dr. Gernot Salzer), the procedure is done at the deans office.

For the Bachelor’s programme you need to accomplish the STEOP before you try to attend lectures from the third semester. For the Master’s programmes there is no STEOP necessary and you can take exams in any order.

During your Bachelor programme you need to write a Bachelor Thesis, in the Master programme a Master Thesis.

Bachelor Thesis are scientific papers and have a workload of about 10 ECTS. You decide the topic together with your tutor.

A Master Thesis is a lot more work to do with a workload of 27 ECTS. Additionally, you have to do the Seminar for Master Students and a Defense with 3 ECTS each.

After a Bachelor’s programme at TU Wien you get the academic title “Bachelor of Science” or “BSc” for short. If you accomplish a Master’s programme you get the academic title “Diplom- Ingenieurin/Diplom-Ingenieur” or “Dipl.-Ing” or “DI” for short. This means Graduated Engineer and is equivalent to the international title of “Master of Science” which is written on your degree.

Yes. If you hold a Master’s degree of TU Wien you can continue with a Doctoral programme. You can find more information about doctoral programmes in Informatics here. The Student Union for Doctorates is also happy to help you with that if you have any questions.

Keep in mind that you won’t just continue to study with a doctorate but you’ll take the first step into an academic career. 

If you’re more interested in just expanding your knowledge and not in an academic career you should better consider postgradute programmes like MBAs (have a look at postgraduate.at or mba.de). More often than not they are much more valuable for an career in the industry than a doctorate.