BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, the Alma Mater Viridis, regards itself as a place for research into and teaching about renewable resources, the prerequisites for life on this earth. The various departments at our university have mainly the task to contribute significantly to the safeguarding of this basis of life for future generations. By linking natural sciences, technology and economics, the university tries to increase the knowledge and information of the ecologically and economically sustainable use of natural resources and to help maintain the harmony of land developed and cultivated by man.
Important characteristics of the research done at BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna are the recognition of potential future problems and the effort to do work of practical relevance. The interdisciplinary and international cooperation of scientists should help them to ask comprehensive questions and discover creative solutions for various problems.
The teaching at BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna is holistic and well-structured; it helps students to gain knowledge, comprehension and flexibility. Given this basis, the graduates are prepared for future challenges and able to deal with them in a competent way. All teaching follows modern didactic methods, deals with topical subjects of high practical relevance and is based on dynamic research. Thus students and graduates become motivated to develop their own ideas. An open minded scientific education and professional training enable them to comprehend all kinds of complicated interdisciplinary issues.
To achieve our goals, we need intensive cooperation based on mutual trust and a flexible organisation. As far as possible, those concerned are involved in the decision making process, so that all people involved with BOKU are able to identify with their university and its objectives. Thus decentralised decision-making becomes possible and people can react upon challenges more flexibly and effectively.
For the general public, BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna is a competent and self-confident partner. On the one hand, we are willing to accept criticism, on the other hand we feel compelled to speak our mind clearly and openly. BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna is prepared for international competition as far as research and teaching are concerned, willing to cooperate on a regional and international basis and keeps an open mind regarding any kind of new development.
|
Discipline |
total |
male |
foreigners male |
female |
foreigners female |
foreigners total |
male foreigners |
female foreigners |
|
5792 |
60,8% (3523) |
10,9% (383) |
39,2% (2269) |
11,7% (266) |
11,2% (649) |
59% (383) |
41% (266) |
|
|
H 055 Studium irregulare |
5 |
40% (2) |
0% (0) |
60% (3) |
0% (0) |
0% (0) |
0% (0) |
0% (0) |
|
H 057 Individual Diploma Study Programme |
48 |
56,3% (27) |
7,4% (2) |
43,7% (21) |
4,8% (1) |
6,3% (3) |
66,6% (2) |
33,4% (1 |
|
H 088 Doctoral Studies |
839 |
65,8% (552) |
14,1% (78) |
34,2% (287) |
15,3% (44) |
14,5% (122) |
63,9% (78) |
36,1% (44) |
|
H 890 Agriculture |
582 |
52,1% (303) |
22,4% (68) |
47,9% (279) |
16,1% (45) |
19,4% (113) |
60,2% (68) |
39,8% (45) |
|
H 900 Forestry and Wood Technology |
324 |
75,3% (244) |
15,2% (37) |
24,7% (80) |
25% (20) |
17,6% (57) |
64,9% (37) |
35,1% (20) |
|
H 910 Land and Water Management and Engineering |
1121 |
81,4% (912) |
4,3% (39) |
18,6% (209) |
6,2% (13) |
4,6% (52) |
75% (39) |
25% (13) |
|
H 915 Food Science and Biotechnology |
815 |
52,3% (426) |
6,1% (26) |
47,7% (389) |
8% (31) |
7% (57) |
45,6% (26) |
54,4% (31) |
|
H 920 Landscape Architecture and Planning |
959 |
46,4% (445) |
4,5% (20) |
53,6% (514) |
9,7% (50) |
7,3% (70) |
28,6% (20) |
71,4% (50) |
| additional (irregular) students | 941 | |||||||
| TOTAL NUMBER | 6411 |
Agricultural Sciences
H310 Institute of Soil Scienc
H315 Institute of Botany
H320 Institute of Zoology
H325 Institute of Livestock Science
H330 Institute of Agronomy and Plant Breeding
H335 Institute for Plant Protection
H340 Institute of Horticulture and Fruit Growing
H350 Institute of Agricultural, Environmental, and Thermal Engineering
H355 Institute of Agricultural Economics
H365 Institute of Economics, Politics and Law
H375 Institute of Organic Farming
Forestry & Wood Technology
H405 Institute of Silviculture
H410 Institute of Forest Ecology
H415 Institute of Forest Entomology, Forest Pathology & Forest
Protection
H420 Institute for Forest Growth and Yield Research
H425 Institute for Forest Product Research
H430 Institute for Forest and Mountain-Risk Engineering
H440 Institute of Forest Economics and Forest Policy
H445 Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management
H450 Center for Nature and Environmental Conservation
Land & Water Management and Engineering
H505 Institute of Mathematics and Applied Statistics
H510 Institute for Surveying and Remote Sensing
H515 Institute of Meteorology and Physics
H520 Institute for Water Resources, Aquatic Ecology and Waste Management
H525 Institute for Structural Engineering
H530 Institute for Transport Studies
H535 Institute for Regional Planning and Rural Development
H540 Institute for Applied Geology
H545 Institute for Hydraulics and Rural Water Management
H550 Institute for Water Management, Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering
H555 Institute of Geotechnology
Food Science & Biotechnology
H605 Institute of Chemistry
H610 Institute of Dairy Science and Bacteriology
H620 Institute of Applied Microbiology
H625 Institute of Food Technology
H630 Center for Ultrastructure Research
H635 Center for Applied Genetics
Landscape Architecture and Planning
H720 Institute of Open-Space Design and Landscape Management
H725 Institute of Landscape Planning and Bioengineering
H100 Rector's office
H105 Central Administration / University director
H205 University Library
H210 Central Information Service (ZID)
H215 Großenzersdorf Field Station
H240 Forestry Training Center
H255 Institute for Agrobiotechnology, Tulln
H260 Centre for International Relations H265 Greenhouses
H270 Hydrological Engineering Workshop
| From the BOKU Mission Statement :
The BOKU professes to being an international performer in research and teaching, cooperating across national and international borders, and initiating open-mindedness towards new developments. |
In assorted publications, in particular the White Paper of the European Commission "Teaching and Learning", the merits of internationalisation and its elements are emphasised. We are convinced that the relatively small size of our country and our geo-political situation are exceptional reasons to be more active beyond our national borders.
The classic international mechanisms comprised communication and cooperation of individuals, work groups and institutes. They retain their worth, although co-operation on an institutional basis has increased and the development of networks in research, teaching and continuing education is gradually replacing and removing them. Mental and physical mobility of students, university lecturers, exchanges and multilateral recognition of studies or parts of them are becoming more important.
Recent years have seen a rapid development of student and teacher mobility, in particular within the European educational programmes. This led to a certain amount of internationali-sation of an institution. In the future, however, an international dimension will have to become part of the university strategic planning to a much higher extent.
The geo-political situation of BOKU as well as the limitations of its finances, linked to a strong subject specialisation, require the definition and focussing of its external interests. BOKU has taken this into account through the formulation of an internationalisation strategy.
| 1. | In the interest of a strengthened internationalisation of the studies (including continuing education) the following measures shall be undertaken by the year 2002: |
Student mobility
Internationalisation of Teaching :
Internationalisation of Continuing Education :
| 2. | A strengthened internationalisation of research is closely linked with an increase in the quality of research (performance). This will be supported by the following measures: |
| 3. | In the interest of a better use of synergy effects, both in general teaching and in continuing education, as well as in research, the development of INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION NETWORKS should be considerably strengthened. |
Networks form, at present, both in the EU and also in the promotion of the Austrian Academic Exchange Service (ÖAD), preferable cooperation forms, and should, therefore, be further developed by BOKU; in particular for cooperation linkages with Third World countries as well as with those in Central Europe.
An interdisciplinary approach should be contemplated as a priority and realised more strongly within BOKU.
STUDENT MOBILITY FIGURES SINCE 1995/1996
SOCRATES-ERASMUS
| LW | FW | KTWW | LBT | LAP | Studlrr | BOKU-Total | |
| 1995/96 | 17 | 2 | 24 | 21 | 17 | 0 | 81 |
| 1996/97 | 29 | 3 | 25 | 16 | 25 | 0 | 98 |
| 1997/98 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 25 | 0 | 98 |
| 1998/99 | 16 | 15 | 34 | 11 | 26 | 1 | 103 |
| 1999/2000 | 21 | 8 | 23 | 23 | 25 | 4 | 104 |
| 2000/2001 | 22 | 8 | 25 | 23 | 22 | 1 | 101 |
| 119 | 54 | 151 | 115 | 140 | 6 | 585 |
JOINT STUDY
| LW | FW | KTWW | LBT | LAP | Studlrr | BOKU-Total | |
| 1999/2000 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
Short-term research scholarships
| LW | FW | KTWW | LBT | LAP | Studlrr | BOKU-Total | |
| 1999/2000 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 51 |
CEEPUS
| LW | FW | KTWW | LBT | LAP | Studlrr | BOKU-Total | |
| 1994/95 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 00 |
| 1995/96 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996/97 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997/98 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1998/99 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999/2000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2000/2001 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Table: Enrolled students at BOKU-domestic and foreign – in relation to out-going students via SOCRATES (not including those supported for short scientific stays abroad, cf. Annex 5). Doctoral studies are done by 839 students, including 122 from abroad in 2000/2001.
|
faculty |
domiestic .......................foreign students enrolled |
outgoing domestic students |
out-percentage =(4) as % of (2) |
in-percentage =(3) as % of (2) + (3) |
|
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) |
|
agriculture |
469 |
113 |
22 |
4,7 |
19,4 |
|
forestry |
267 |
57 |
8 |
3,0 |
17,6 |
|
civil engineering |
1.069 |
52 |
25 |
2,3 |
4,6 |
|
food & biotechnology |
758 |
57 |
23 |
3,0 |
7,0 |
|
landscape planning |
899 |
70 |
22 |
2,5 |
7,3 |
|
total |
3.462 |
349 |
100 |
2,9 |
9,1 |
Short term research scholarships 1994- 2001
|
diploma thesis |
doctoral thesis |
Habilitation |
Total |
|
|
till 04/2001 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
|
2000 |
38 |
9 |
2 |
49 |
|
1999 |
43 |
13 |
3 |
59 |
|
1998 |
23 |
9 |
0 |
32 |
|
1997 |
59 |
11 |
1 |
71 |
|
1996 |
63 |
2 |
0 |
65 |
|
1995 |
41 |
7 |
1 |
49 |
|
1994 |
37 |
13 |
0 |
50 |
|
314 |
65 |
8 |
387 |
During the last three academic years BOKU had altogether 45 visiting lecturers, with an increasing trend (12 – 14 – 19), and most of them from non-German-speaking foreign countries (34 = 9 + 11 + 14). These were preferably invited by the faculty groups Forestry and Land & Water Management and Engineering:
Table: Visiting lectures from abroad (1999 – 2001)
|
faculty group |
Non-German |
German-speaking country |
in |
| agriculture 4 / 11 |
6 |
5 |
11 |
| forestry 5 / 9 |
12 |
3 |
15 |
| land &
water management and engineering 8 / 11 |
12 |
3 |
15 |
| biotechnology 2 / 6 |
3 |
- |
3 |
| landscape
planning 1 / 2 |
1 |
- |
1 |
| in
total 20 / 39 |
34 |
11 |
45 |
North America:
College of Agriculture, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, USA
College of Forest Resources, Washington State University, Seattle, USA
University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
University of Idaho, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Sciences, USA
Michigan Technological University (MTU)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL)
West Virginia University, College of Agriculture and Forestry, USA
Oregon State University, College of Forestry, USA
North Carolina State University, USA
University of California, Berkeley, USA
University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada
University of British Columbia (UBC) - Vancouver, Canada
Central-Latin America:
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Peru
Asia:
Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Japan
Hebei Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Science, Hebei Forestry
College,Shijazhuang, Hebei, China
University Yangling, China
Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand
King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, Thailand
Kathmandu University, Nepal
Australia, NZ:
Griffith University, Australia
Lincoln University, New Zealand
Africa :
Makerere University, Uganda
Egerton University, Kenya
Moi University, Kenya
University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
Western Europe:
University of Hohenheim, Germany
Royal Agricultural College Cirencester, UK
Eastern Europe:
Szent-Istvan University, Gödöllö and Budapest, Hungary
University of West-Hungary, Sopron and Mosonmagyaróvár,
Hungary
Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Agricultural University Prag-Suchdol, Czech Republic
Technical University Prague, Czech Republic
Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry Brno, Czech Republic
Agricultural University Nitra, Slovac Republic
Agricultural University Cracow, Poland
Josip-Juraj-Strossmayer University Osijek, Croatia
University of Zagreb, Croatia
Preface :
In recent years university cooperation agreements have been carried out
with variable intensities. Some of them represent just loose declarations
of intent to cooperate more closely in the future, some others imply
concrete agreements to exchange a known number of students and scientists.
The evaluation carried out on the existing university cooperation
agreements (UCA) shows a very low downward quote/ return rate?
(25%) and above all the insight that UCA apparently have no very high
importance for BOKU scientists. Accordingly it seems advisable to redefine
the status of the existing UCA retroactively and, above all, to prepare
clear guidelines for cooperation agreeements to be concluded, in order to
evade wastage of energy in the future.
Status of the current university cooperation agreement –
New definition – Prospects for the future :
The current 39 UPA will be basically maintained, however they will be
categorised in different groups, which are also relevant for the
allocation of the university budget.
| 1. | MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING Description: loose declaration of intent of both institutions, in which the will to cooperate in the future will be demonstrated Activities: practically none Financial support on the side of the university: None Prospects for the future: all these linkages can become active at any time, be it through arrangement of a regular student or guest lecturer exchange or through mutual research projects; this type of agreement, in particular in the European area, is replaced mainly by the SOCRATES cooperation agreement, so that its survival on a different level is assured. With partner universities in the eastern neighbouring countries in particular, there has been a sense of revival for some time with a systematic "getting to know you" campaign started, as part of which scientists are introduced to one another’s respective specialist areas in the setting of one day workshops and are able to sound out the possibility of future cooperation. In addition, most contacts established will lead to the SOCRATES or CEEPUS networks, in particular in the areas of the AKTION-programmes"Austria – Hungary, Austria - Czech Republic, Austria – Slovakia". The traditional partnership agreement will in this way become obsolete. As a sub-group within these MoUs we may consider agreements which will merely be concluded in order to carry out mutual research projects in a known subject area. No university funds are involved either but the only benefit of such an agreement lies in the signalling effect towards international sponsors that the university is interested in an international research project via the institute concerned. |
| 2. | COOPERATION AGREEMENTS IN SPECIALIST AREAS Description : within an academic discipline specific contacts between institute members have already existed and are to be developed into more substantial joint activities in teaching and research; the existence of a cooperation agreement will considerably facilitate this approach; such agreements will be concluded by responsible representatives of the discipline and countersigned by the rector. Activities : Coordinators, on both sides, draw up an annual work programme that earmarks specific steps to be carried out and are also responsible for their realisation (in cooperation with the International Centre). There is the obligation to write a report. Input of the university: financial subsidy for contact visits. Prospects for the future: this type of agreements should be intensified both with respect to the intensification of lecturer exchanges and of the cooperation in mutual research projects, in doing so however the interdisciplinary base should not be disregarded. At least within the academic discipline several subject areas should be involved before a written agreement can be concluded, and interdisciplinary, network project planning will be handled as a priority on the side of the university. |
| 3. | OVERALL UNIVERSITY COOPERATION AGREEMENTS
Description : At least 2 disciplines should have contact with the partner university with the aim of cooperating on either an organised student, or in particular, scientist exchange or the mutual development of teaching or training programmes. In most cases, this concerns cooperation with institutions in the Third World. There is a main coordinator as well as a coordinator for every discipline involved, there will be an annual work plan drawn up and a report written at the end of the year. Input of the university: a given percentage of the partnership funds are available for cooperation activities Benefits : Energy will be packaged into certain areas, regular mutual projects lead to strengthened network levels which entail real synergy; joint study programmes enable students to pursue part of their studies also outside Europe without any problems. Prospects for the future: This type of agreements will develop further, exclusively in the areas of teaching and training, in close combination with the development of further joint study programmes this could gradually lead to the development of joint modules, ultimately students should be able to study for a degree which is made up of both native and foreign country study parts, and leads to a dual final examination. |
| 1. | University cooperation agreements between the BOKU and foreign universities may be concluded if the following criteria are fulfilled: |
Memorandum of Understanding :
| 1) |
Written expression of interest from both sides confirming their wish to cooperate more closely in the future. - Proof of clear added value resulting from the conclusion of the agreement |
In principal the conclusion of new MoU will be handled extremely restrictively.
Discipline-Based Linkage Agreements:
should observe the following additional criteria :
Overall University Cooperation Agreement:
should observe the following additional criteria : Appointment of a main
coordinator
With joint study : Definition of the exchange quota and of the departments
involved
With mutual projects : production of a work plan
Desired financial endowment on the side of the university
Last update: 11.6.2001 IT