Summer semester 2025

Let’s Talk Money! How Can Austria Shake Off Its Debts?

Let’s Stand Up Against Online Hate!

How Austrians Invest their Money

Can Women Really Have It All?

Can We Bury Carbon Underground?

AI – A Blessing or a Curse?

Competition – The Be-All and End-All?

EU matters – Europe in the Ranking of Powers

Austria’s budget deficit is forecast to rise to 4.1 percent in 2025, soaring well above the EU’s three percent Maastricht limit for annual government deficit relative to GDP. This means that Austria’s new government will inherit a massive debt burden, which will make it necessary to save billions of euros in 2025 alone. But how? How much can Austria really save through cuts in government spending? How much additional revenue can be raised from taxes and fees? And are pension reforms inevitable now? These questions will be the focus of our panel discussion with experts including former WU Rector Christoph Badelt, now president of the Austrian Fiscal Advisory Council.

Lecture

Christoph Badelt, President of the Austrian Fiscal Advisory Council; WU Vienna 

Discussion

Christoph Badelt, President of the Austrian Fiscal Advisory Council; WU Vienna 

Franz Schellhorn, Director of Agenda Austria

Margit Schratzenstaller, Senior Economist, WIFO

Helene Schuberth, Managing Director of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB)

Moderated by

Karin Heitzmann,  Head of the Research Institute for the Economics of Inequality, WU Vienna

Hate speech, online firestorms, cyberbullying ... violence through words is becoming more and more widespread online. Users provoke, insult, and threaten each other in a way that many of us find hard to bear. What forms does digital violence take? Where does it come from? What do hateful online comments do to us and our society? Do we have to accept that many people experience verbal violence online? What legal safeguards are in place to protect us? And how can we stop online bullying?

Lecture

Philipp Homar, Full Professor and Head of the Information and Communication Technology & Intellectual Property Law Group, WU Vienna

Marius Lüdicke, Full Professor of Marketing and Head of the Institute for International Marketing Management, WU Vienna 

Discussion

Ingrid Brodnig, Award-winning journalist, writer, and columnist for the daily “Der Standard”, Expert on disinformation and hate speech on social media, Digital Ambassador of Austria to the EU

Meri Disoski, Member of the Austrian Parliament, Member of the Federal Board of the Greens, Spokeswoman for International and European Affairs and Equal Opportunities

Susanne Lackner, Deputy Chairperson of KommAustria, responsible for the tasks of the Austrian Digital Services Coordinator, KommAustria

Georg Kodek, Full Professor of Civil and Business Law, WU Vienna, President of the Austrian Supreme Court of Justice

Moderated by

Elfriede Penz, Associate Professor of Marketing, Deputy Chair of the Institute for International Marketing Management, WU Vienna

By international standards, Austria is a country where saving money is very important to people, but many are still reluctant to invest in stocks and other securities. Why is that? A recent survey of 1000 respondents provides interesting insights into what people in Austria know – or think they know – about the securities market. We contrast these findings with an analysis of actual investment behavior, based on millions of transactions. What does this comparison tell us? What are the reasons why many Austrians shy away from the securities market?

Lecture

Bettina Fuhrmann, Full Professor, Head of the Institute for Business Education, WU Vienna

Fiona Springer, Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA)

Discussion

Bettina Fuhrmann, Full Professor, Head of the Institute for Business Education, WU Vienna

Stefan Pichler, Full Professor, Head of the Institute for Finance, Banking and Insurance, WU Vienna

Fiona Springer, Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA)

Doris Zingl, Head of the Law Unit, Austrian Bankers’ Association

Moderated by

Gerhard Hofer, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Die Presse

Twice the effort, half the credit? Leadership often requires significant sacrifices, especially for women striving to succeed in highly competitive fields. What personal and professional trade-offs do women face? Drawing from the experiences of accomplished women across various fields, we’ll be discussing how we can redefine success and achieve work-life integration, and we’ll be looking at the role that mentorship and systemic support play in fostering equitable opportunities. Can women really “have it all” or is it time to reframe this narrative?

Lecture

Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger, Vice President of SK Rapid, former Rector of WU Vienna

Discussion

Valerie Croy-Markones, Head of CIB Client Management, Raiffeisen Bank International AG

Bettina Fuhrmann, Head of the Institute for Business Education, WU Vienna

Beate Natmessnig, General Manager Commercial Operation Austria, CSL Behring GmbH

Sanela Terko, Tax Consultant and Partner, BDO

Moderated by

Michael Köttritsch, Head of the “Management & Karriere” section, Die Presse

The hard-to-abate industries (including cement and waste-to-energy) are responsible for around 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Now that the Austrian government has published its new Carbon Management Strategy, carbon capture and storage (CCS) may soon become a reality in our country too. What are the reasons why decarbonization is so difficult in some sectors? What challenges and what potential arise from CCS? How can we identify and implement sustainable innovations? And what responsibility do (future) business leaders have with regard to climate protection?

Lecture

Bianca Secklehner, Decarbonization Expert, RHI Magnesita, Lecturer, University of Applied Sciences Burgenland

Sigrid Stagl, Professor of Socioeconomics, WU Vienna, Austrian Researcher of the Year 2024, Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Austrian Carbon Management Strategy

Gerhard Speckbacher, Full Professor, Institute for Strategy and Managerial Accounting, WU Vienna, Head of the WU Center of Excellence

Discussion

Bianca Secklehner, Decarbonization Expert, RHI Magnesita, Lecturer, University of Applied Sciences Burgenland

Sigrid Stagl, Professor of Socioeconomics, WU Vienna, Austrian Researcher of the Year 2024, Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Austrian Carbon Management Strategy

Moritz Tiefenthaler, Carbon Capture and Storage Expert, Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK)

Moderated by

Constantin Helmrich, WU Master’s Student, CEMS/Center of Excellence

ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, DeepSeek – artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing our world at breakneck speed, with profound implications for politics, the economy, and our societies. But what does this mean for international investments and global trade? Can AI help us overcome transnational divides? Or will geopolitical tensions and unequal access to AI create new barriers? How can companies adjust to the new realities and remain competitive thanks to – or despite of – AI?

Lecture

Harald Puhr, Postdoctoral Researcher in International Business, WU Vienna

Discussion

Amelia Santos-Paulino, Chief of the Investment Research Section, UNCTAD

Christian Gosch, Head of Group Data & IT, UNIQA Insurance Group

Daniel Zawarczynski, Chief Innovation Officer, AUSSENWIRTSCHAFT AUSTRIA

Jonas Puck, Full Professor of International Business, WU Vienna

Julia Mittermayr, Chief Operating Officer, ReDem

Moderated by

Helga Pattart-Drexler, Managing Director, Neos Lab

The work of competition authorities is more complex today than ever before. Regulators have to reconcile the diverse challenges posed by big tech, sustainability, supply security, and sanctions regimes. At the same time, the competitiveness of the European single market is at stake. What does all this mean for competition regulation? And what does it take for the balancing act between independent enforcement, democratic control, transparent decision-making, and a dialog with political leaders and society to succeed?

Discussion

Claudia Fuchs, Head of the Institute for Austrian and European Public Law, WU Vienna

Klaus Gugler, Professor at the Department of Economics and Head of the Research Institute for Regulatory Economics, WU Vienna

Natalie Harsdorf, Director General of the Austrian Federal Competition Authority

Wolfgang Urbantschitsch, Member of the Board of Directors of E-Control and Professor at the Institute for Austrian and European Public Law, WU Vienna

Moderated by

Michael Holoubek, Chair of the Department of Public Law and Tax Law and Professor at the Institute for Austrian and European Public Law, WU Vienna

The global economy is in upheaval. Where does Europe stand in the world economy, and where is it headed? To remain competitive internationally, Europe needs reforms, and it needs to invest in the right steps forward. How can we finance the climate and energy transformation, a European defense architecture, and the further development of cutting-edge industries? How will Europe have to change? What kind of enlargement policy is needed for Europe to assert itself in the new world order? And is there even enough political will to drive the necessary reforms?

Lecture

Harald Oberhofer, Professor of Empirical Economics, WU; Senior Economist, WIFO

Discussion

Ewald Nowotny, ÖGfE President and former Governor of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank

Harald Oberhofer, Professor of Empirical Economics, WU; Senior Economist, WIFO

Monika Rosen, stock market expert and Vice President of the Austro-American Society

Moderated by

Paul Schmidt, Secretary General, Austrian Society for European Politics