The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, or simply BOKU (derived from its German name, Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, ), founded in 1872, is an education and research centre for renewable resources in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. BOKU combines expertise in the fields of natural sciences, engineering and biotechnology as well as social and economic sciences. In research and teaching, it focuses on * the conservation and development of protection for habitats, economy and living standards * the management of natural resources and environment * the protection of food and health BOKU sees itself as an innovation leader in the green economy, with the goal of integrating sustainability into all processes in society. It is a member of the Euroleague for Life Sciences (ELLS), the

United Nations Academic Impact The United Nations Academic Impact, also known by its acronym UNAI, is a United Nations initiative to align institutions of higher education, scholarship and research with the United Nations and with each other. In the words of former United Nat ...

(UNAI), the European University Initiative (EPICUR), the Austrian-African Research Network (Africa UniNet) and numerous other international cooperations. There are currently 10,941 students from over 100 countries enrolled at BOKU.

Campus

After 27 years at ''Palais Schönborn'' the

City of Vienna A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

decided in 1896 to build a new campus at ''Türkenschanzpark'' in the

18th 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...

district. The departments of sustainable agriculture, soil science, horticulture, animal husbandry, economics and social sciences are still headquartered at this original campus. Another city campus, located at ''Muthgasse'' in the 19th district near the Heiligenstadt underground station, is the headquarters for the biotechnology, chemistry, plant sciences, water resource management, waste management and food sciences departments. There is also a research facility complex in

Tulln Tulln an der Donau () is a historic town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, the administrative seat of Tulln District. Because of its abundance of parks and gardens, Tulln is often referred to as ''Blumenstadt'' ("City of Flowers"), and "The C ...

, north of the city, with biotechnology and agricultural sciences laboratories and facilities. Other important locations and testing fields are Groß-Enzersdorf (

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

), Jedlersdorf (Vienna), Knödelhütte (Vienna), Heuberg/Rosalia (

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

) and the Water Cluster Lunz am See (Lower Austria). BOKU-1896.jpg, Hochschule für Bodenkultur, today's Gregor-Mendel-Haus (1896) Tuerkenschanzpark Wiese.jpg, Türkenschanzpark (original campus) Wien - Gregor-Mendel-Haus, Portal.JPG, Gregor-Mendel-Haus (original campus) Döbling - Wilhelm-Exner-Haus.JPG, Wilhelm-Exner-Haus (original campus) Armin Szilvinyi Haus.jpg, Armin-Szilvinyi-Haus (Muthgasse campus)

Departments and Research Units

15 Departments of BOKU
Department of Material Sciences and Process EngineeringDepartment of BiotechnologyDepartment of Water, Atmosphere and EnvironmentDepartment of NanobiotechnologyDepartment of ChemistryDepartment of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity ResearchDepartment of Food science and TechnologyDepartment of Landscape, Spatial and Infrastructure SciencesDepartment of Economics and Social SciencesDepartment of Sustainable Agricultural SystemsDepartment of Civil Engineering and Natural HazardsDepartment of Forest- and Soil SciencesDepartment of Crop SciencesDepartment of Agrobiotechnology, IFA-TullnDepartment of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology
Research Units and Initiatives
Center for Agricultural SciencesCenter for BioeconomyCenter for Global Change and Sustainability

Studies

BOKU offers 8 BSc programmes and 28 MSc programmes. Most of them allow various specialisations and possibilities for majors. The language of instruction is partly German, partly English. For many MSc programmes the language of instruction is English only. In general, programmes start each year in October and take three years for a BSc diploma with 180 ECTS credits and two years for a MSc diploma with 120 ECTS credits. Studies are in the field of natural resources management, life sciences & biotechnology, civil & environmental engineering, landscape planning, agriculture, forestry and winemaking. The PhD programme is a three-year programme with 180 ECTS credits which consists of a research component (conducting research under supervision and writing a thesis) and a smaller education component. In order to guarantee adequate supervision, the research subject must fit the research programme of BOKU and its institutes. Due to BOKU's extensive world-wide engagement, the university offers many international MSc programmes as joint or double degree. It is also a member of the Euroleague for Life Sciences university network, partnering with

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

, Faculty of Science (SCIENCE),

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, or Swedish Agricultural University (Swedish: ''Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet'') (SLU) is a university in Sweden. Although its head office is located in Ultuna, Uppsala, the university has several c ...

(SLU),

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU; ( cs, Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze), ČZU; also Czech University of Agriculture in Prague) is a university of agricultural education and research in Prague, the Czech Republic, establish ...

(CULS),

University of Hohenheim The University of Hohenheim (german: Universität Hohenheim) is a campus university located in the south of Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1818, it is Stuttgart's oldest university. Its primary areas of specialisation had traditionally bee ...

(UHOH),

Warsaw University of Life Sciences The Warsaw University of Life Sciences ( pl, Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego, lit=Main School of Rural Homestead, SGGW) is the largest agricultural university in Poland, established in 1816 in Warsaw. It employs over 2,600 staff including ...

(WULS-SGGW),

Wageningen University and Research Centre Wageningen University & Research (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally ...

(WUR),

China Agricultural University China Agricultural University (CAU, ; abbreviated as 农大) is a public research university in Beijing, People's Republic of China specializing in agriculture, biology, engineering, veterinary medicine, economics, management, humanities ...

(CAU),

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment (HUJI), Lincoln University, New Zealand (LU) and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).

Notable alumni

Leopold Figl Leopold Figl (2 October 1902 – 9 May 1965) was an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (Christian Democrats) and the first Federal Chancellor after World War II. He was also the youngest Federal Chancellor of Austria after the w ...

– Federal Chancellor of Austria (1945–1953) *

Franz Fischler Franz Fischler (born 23 September 1946) is an Austrian politician from the Christianity, Christian-Conservatism, conservative Austrian People's Party, People's Party (ÖVP). He was the European Union's Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Developm ...

–

EU Commissioner A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent ...

for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries (1995–2004) *

Nikolaus Berlakovich Nikolaus Berlakovich (born 4 June 1961 in Eisenstadt, Austria), is an Austrian politician. He served as Minister for Agriculture from 2008 to 2013 in the First Faymann cabinet and has been a member of the Austrian parliament since 2013 File:20 ...

– Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forestry (2008–2013) *

Luis Durnwalder Luis Durnwalder (born 23 September 1941) is an Italian politician, former governor of the autonomous province of South Tyrol from 1989 until 2014, and former president and vice-president of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, in Northern Italy. Bi ...

–

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

(1989–2014) * Günter Haiden – Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forestry (1976–1986) * Sabine Herlitschka – CEO of Infineon Technologies Austria (2014–present) *

Sixtus Lanner Sixtus Lanner (12 May 1934 – 13 July 2022) was an Austrian farmer, engineer, and politician who served in the National Council of Austria as a member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). Lanner served in parliament for a total of 25 years f ...

– Austrian MP (1934–2022) * Hans Lechner – Governor of the

State of Salzburg Salzburg (, ; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) (also known as ''Salzburgerland'') is a state (''Land'') of the modern Republic of Austria. It is officially named ''Land Salzburg'' to distinguish it from its eponymous capital — the city of S ...

(1961–1977) * Hermann Neubacher –

Mayor of Vienna This is a list of mayors and governors of Vienna since 1282. Vienna is the capital city of Austria. Since 1920, it has also been an states of Austria, Austrian state, with its mayor also doubling as the ''Landeshauptmann'' (governor or minister ...

(1938–1940) *

Erwin Pröll Erwin Pröll (born 24 December 1946, in Ziersdorf-Radlbrunn), is an Austrian conservative politician (ÖVP). From 1992 to 2017, he was the Governor of Lower Austria. He was born in Radlbrunn, Lower Austria and after obtaining his Matura at ...

– Governor of Lower Austria (1992–2017) *

Josef Pröll Josef Pröll (born 14 September 1968, in Stockerau, Austria) is an Austrian former politician who was the chairman of the Austrian People's Party from 2008 until 2011. He was Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance. Previously, he was the Feder ...

– Federal Minister of Finance and Vice-Chancellor (2008–2011) *

Hans Tuppy Hans Tuppy (born July 22, 1924) is an Austrian biochemist who participated in the sequencing of insulin, and became Austria's first university professor for biochemistry. He was Austrian Minister for Science and Research from 1987 to 1989. Fami ...

– Biochemist and Federal Minister of Science (1987–1989) * Oskar Weihs – Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forestry (1970–1976) * Andrä Rupprechter – Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forestry (2013–2017)

Notable scientists

Walter Bitterlich Walter Bitterlich (; February 19, 1908 – February 9, 2008) was an Austrian forestry scientist. He was the inventor of the relascope, a method for efficient forest inventory. Early career Bitterlich descended from several generations of fore ...

- Forest Scientist and Inventor * Adolf Cieslar - Forest Scientist * Adolf Ritter von Guttenberg - Forest Scientist * Herbert Killian - Forest Historian * Josef Kisser - Botanist * Helga Kromp-Kolb – Meteorologist und Climate Scientist, Austrian Scientist of the Year 2005 *

Wilhelm Neurath Wilhelm Neurath (; 31 May 1840 – 9 March 1901) was an Austrian political economist of the late nineteenth century. He was professor of economics at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna. Early years Neurath was born i ...

- Economist * Emil Perels - Land Planner * Karl Prachar - Mathematician * Karl E. Schedl - Zoologist and Forest Scientist * Franz Schwackhöfer - Chemist *

Erich von Tschermak-Seysenegg Erich Tschermak, Edler von Seysenegg (15 November 1871 – 11 October 1962) was an Austrian agronomist who developed several new disease-resistant crops, including wheat-rye and oat hybrids. He was a son of the Moravia-born mineralogist Gustav ...

- Plant researcher * Martin Wilckens - Animal researcher and Founding Rector of BOKU

Notes and references

External links

University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
(English version)
Prospectus
(English version) {{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Natural Resources And Life Sciences Vienna Universities and colleges in Vienna Forestry education Forestry in Austria Educational institutions established in 1872 1872 establishments in Austria Universities established in the 19th century