Linz, Johannes Kepler University

About JKU

A Different Kind of University

The Johannes Kepler University (JKU) in Linz, one of the most modern universities in Austria, was founded in 1966 as an Academy for Social and Economic Sciences. Teaching and research activities initially began with a faculty focused on academic studies in the the fields of social sciences, economics and legal studies, serving a student body of approximately 600. The Faculty of Technical and Natural Sciences was introduced in 1969, followed by the Faculty of Law in 1975. In the same year, the Academy transitioned to become the Johannes Kepler University (JKU), named after the world-famous and renowned mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler.

In the beginning, the idea of a “university campus setting” located was a completely new concept in Austria. Situated on the northeastern outskirts of the Upper Austrian capital of Linz, the campus accommodates approximately 18,000 students and employs over 2,500 faculty and staff. The JKU currently offers 59 Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate academic degree programs at 118 institutes. Cooperation efforts with over 250 partner universities in 50 countries around the world underscore the university's high standards as a future-oriented and international institution of higher learning.

JKU – Impulse Center for Science and Society

From the start, the JKU depicted a new style of university offering interdisciplinary combinations between the fields of economics, social science, law, natural science and engineering, as well as a concentrated focus on its obligations to the community and economy. Today, the JKU not only provides expertise in basic research, but is also the province’s largest institution of application-oriented research.

Subsequently, in addition to traditional institutes, the university has seen an increasing number of institutes funded by third parties and, more recently, the introduction of competence centers which are privately owned companies and other organizations that reflect the important role JKU plays within the economy of Upper Austria. These include: the Research Institute of Symbolic Computation (RISC), the Software Competence Center Hagenberg, the Institute of Application-oriented Knowledge Processing (Anwendungsorientierte Wissensverarbeitung (FAW)), Numerical and Symbolic Scientific Computing. In addition to the SCCH Hagenberg, the competence centers include the ACCM (Austrian Competence Center in Mechtronics) and the Competence Center in Wood. These university institutes cooperate with large companies as well as small and medium-sized companies that specialize in these particular fields.

JKU International

The Johannes Kepler University goes beyond its function as "just" an institution of education and is deeply committed to continually develop and expand its international network. The broad spectrum of programs and projects initiated and supported by JKU faculties and institutes has resulted in more than 120 partnership agreements and contracts with diverse universities located in more than 40 countries and on five continents.

The JKU strongly supports an active exchange of guest professors, organizes international events and conferences, and conducts research in cooperation with partner universities around the world. These measures, and more, continue to strengthen the university's international reputation - a reputation the university has worked hard to acquire in its rather brief history. Diverse European and international programs (e.g. ERASMUS) allow academic staff and students additional opportunities of personal and intercultural exchange to enhance their potential career and research opportunities.