Consideredto be the third oldest university in Austria, the University of Innsbruck wasfounded in 1669, with roots dating back even earlier, to 1562 when a Jesuitcollege was established.
Today,the university comprises 16 faculties (its most recent, the Faculty of TeacherEducation, opened in 2012), six interdisciplinary research areas, fourinterdisciplinary research platforms, and more than 40 research centers tofacilitate networking and collaboration between different disciplines. Physics,Alpine Space - Man and the Environment, Cultural Encounters – CulturalConflicts, Scientific Computing and Molecular Biosciences are cited as beingamong its research priorities.
Approximately28,000 students are enrolled. The University’s main mandate is to focus onresearch and development, teaching and continuing professional education andtraining. In all these fields its regional status is to be deepened and itshigh ranking in the European academic area is to be guaranteed. Courses aretaught primarily in German, with a growing number of courses in English.
Theuniversity is located in the Alps, bridging German and Romance speaking regions.In order to promote international exchange in research and teaching, theuniversity collaborates with numerous international research and educationinstitutions.