Incoming students

Incoming Erasmus+ mobility for Meteorology in Vienna applies to students from:

• University of Bologna, programmes in Science of Climate and Physics of the Earth System (2 semester places every academic year).
• University of Oslo, programme in Geosciences (2 semester places every academic year).
• Universities of Munich (Ludwig-Maximiliens), Madrid (Complutense) and Budapest (Eötvös Loránd), only until academic year 2027-28. These mobility agreements belong to the Erasmus+ programming period 2021-2027 and will be discontinued.

Extensive information for incoming students can be found on the websites of the International Office of the University of Vienna. This page contains information that is specifically relevant for Meteorology students.

The mobility coordinator for Meteorology is Stefano Serafin. He can help you with:

• finding information about courses in Vienna.
• linking you with lecturers in Vienna.
• linking you with students in Vienna.

Summer semester

• Beginning of semester and classes: 1 March
• End of classes: 30 June
• Lecture-free period (summer break): 1 July to 30 September
• End of semester: 30 September

Winter semester

• Beginning of semester and classes: 1 October
• End of classes: 31 January
• Lecture-free period: 1 to 28 (or 29) February
• End of semester: 28 (or 29) February

Exams are often scheduled in the lecture-free period times.

• All information on courses offered at the University of Vienna can be found in the course catalogue. The Directorate of Studies 28 - Earth Science - Meteorology-Geophysics - Astronomy coordinates, among others, the bachelor and master curricula in Meteorology and Climate Science.
• The catalogue lists the available courses by semesters, which can be navigated using the links on top right (e.g., 2026S or 2026W respectively for summer or winter semester).
• The catalogue listing has three indentation levels: module groups (outermost), modules, courses (innermost). The active courses in the chosen semester are always indicated by a numerical code e.g., “280351 VU Climate Modelling Lab". The module group and module listings are always shown; if no courses are active in a given module or group, the lists are empty.
• The catch: when exploring the course catalogue, only consider the list items with a numerical code next to them.

• The letters next to the numerical course code identify the course type: VO (Vorlesung) for lectures, UE (Übung) for exercises, VU (Vorlesung mit integrierter Übung) for lectures with exercises, SE (Seminar) for seminars, PR (Praktika) for practical courses. Courses are further designated as NPI (without continuous assessment) or PI (with continuous assessment). Generally, VO courses are NPI, while UE and VU courses are PI.
• For courses without continuous assessment (pure lectures, NPI VO), students have to register for the respective exam via u:space. The earliest possible exam date usually takes place in or close to the last course unit. A total of at least 4 exam dates are offered; at the end of the semester and at the beginning, middle and end of the following semester.
• For courses with continuous assessment (with exercises, PI UE or VU), no separate exam registration is necessary and all details about the evalution of student performance are given during the first session of the course. Attendance to the first session (and possibly the other sessions too) is mandatory.

For some courses, the catalogue lists a maximum capacity (e.g. “max. 20 participants”). This should not shy you away from including that course in your Erasmus+ learning agreement. Capacity constraints usually apply to UE and VU courses, which have mandatory attendance, and have to do with fire safety regulations and the size of lecture halls. Meteorology in Vienna is a comparatively small curriculum and the number of students attending the courses is usually well below the maximum capacity. In the unlikely event that too many students sign up for a course, the late subscribers are automatically put into a waiting list. Usually, in such cases the course is duplicated (i.e., a parallel course is offered in the same semester) so that all students can take it at the desired time.

While the master curriculum in Meteorology and Climate Science is offered entirely in English, the official language of the bachelor curriculum is German. Therefore, all bachelor courses are listed as German-language in the course catalogue. However, some of them (usually the ones offered by international lecturers) are actually offered in English. In the last few years, bachelor courses offered in English included Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere and Boundary-layer Meteorology. Circumstances change every semester, so you might consider checking with the mobility coordinator for Meteorology about the available English-language courses at bachelor level.