Courses for incoming students

You can find all courses available to incoming exchange students in our “Course Catalog", including the course descriptions.

The winter semester (October–January) course list is available at the beginning of July; the course list for the summer semester (March–June) is published in late December or early January. You can find the academic calender as well as dates and deadlines here.

For orientation purposes, you can view the courses that were offered in previous semesters, but please note that not all courses are offered every semester. You will be able to check the availability of courses prior to registration.

Course numbers have a purely administrative purpose and change every semester.

Course Registration

Course registration for incoming exchange students takes place from mid-January to mid-February for the summer semester and from mid-August to mid- September for the winter semester. You can find the exact dates for each semester on our Dates and Deadlines website. Please disregard any differing registration dates mentioned in course syllabi, as they apply to WU degree-seeking students only.

Course registration consists of 3 phases:

Phase 1: Course preference submission

For the course preference submission phase, you will use the course preference portal. You must select a minimum of 10 courses and can enter up to 15 courses.
It is important to remember that you are only allowed to choose courses that match your study level (bachelor/master). 

It is your responsibility to make sure there are no timetable overlaps. This is also a must for courses offered in a distance- learning format.

Also, keep in mind that course attendance is mandatory at WU.

For a comprehensive overview of how to use the course preference portal, watch the video “How to select courses in the course preference portal” below.

Phase 2: Automatic course registration by algorithm

During the automatic course registration phase, you will be registered for your courses based on the preferences you indicated in the course preference portal. You cannot make any changes to your course selection during this phase.

The algorithm will allocate spots based on preferences. This does not mean that you will automatically get your first five preferences as course spots in classes vary.  You will only be registered for courses that don’t overlap.

Phase 3: Add-and-drop on LPIS

During the add-and-drop phase, registration operates on a first-come, first-served basis. Make sure you watch our video tutorial "How to register for courses on LPIS during the add-and-drop period" on course registration on LPIS to know how to proceed. Keep checking LPIS during this phase, as spots may become available when other students deregister. If you know you will not be able to take a course, deregister as soon as possible to allow another student to take your place.

How to select courses in the course preference portal

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Attendance

Attendance is mandatory in all sessions. Please check the scheduled dates of all your courses carefully to avoid course time conflicts. If it is not possible to avoid minor time conflicts, please refer to the syllabus for the attendance requirements of the respective courses. As a last resort, contact the instructors concerned before the start of the courses (but after course registration) and ask if and for how long you may be absent from a course. Please note that attendance of the first and last session is absolutely mandatory.

Attending courses without registration is not possible and it is not possible to “try out” courses. Please also refrain from attending the first session of a course without being registered for it.

Grading

The Austrian grading system applies at WU. These are the grades used:

WU does not use a standardized percentage-based grading scale. The percentage scores needed to earn the grades given above differ from course to course. In most cases, the course-specific grading scales can be found in the online course description.

Language requirements

The English and German-taught courses deal with topics at an advanced academic level, and students must therefore have a good command of English or German to be able to follow the courses and participate in group discussions.

Depending on the language of instruction (English or German), we recommend that incoming bachelor’s students should at least have language skills at B2 level in English or C1 level in German (according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, CEFR). Incoming master’s students must have a level equivalent to C1 of the CEFR.

WU does not require official language certificates. However, if students do not meet the language requirements, we reserve the right to de-register them from courses.

Academic life

University life in Austria may be different from your home university. Part of your exchange experience will be adapting to your new environment at WU. Please consider the following aspects:

• Academic life in Austria is rather formal, e.g. we address a professor with “Dear professor XY” and try to be very polite with students, lecturers, and staff.

• At WU, most courses are taught in a seminar-like format and require active participation and group work.

• Students need to create their own schedule and are expected to register only for courses that don’t overlap. It is also the students’ responsibility to make sure they fulfill the prerequisites.

• Students are expected to do pre-course readings and hand in pre-course assignments in time. They should get familiar with WU’s learning and information portal CANVAS and are expected to check their WU email address on a regular basis.

Have a look at WU's code of conduct we@wu to get a better understanding of what WU expects from you and what you can expect from WU.

Plagiarism

We are committed to academic integrity, honesty, and fairness, and we expect students to comply with our rules and regulations. This means that any form of “foul play” (e.g. plagiarism) is considered a serious offense and your home university will be informed. Please ask your course instructor about the rules for citations and references in any kind of written paper (e.g. essay, report, homework) you have to submit. Further information on plagiarism can be found here.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

You must always adhere to good academic practice when using AI tools to support your learning and developing your work. You can find more information about the use of AI here.

FAQs