New Rectorate of the University of Vienna from 1 October 2022 onwards

On 1 October, the new Rectorate of the University of Vienna is beginning its four-year term of office. Upon proposal of the new Rector Sebastian Schütze and following approving notice by the Senate of the University of Vienna and election by the University Board, the following Vice-Rectors are appointed: Manuela Baccarini for Research and International Affairs, Christa Schnabl for Educational Affairs as well as Ronald Maier for Digitalisation and Knowledge Transfer. Until the end of the year, Regina Hitzenberger is still leading the area of Infrastructure on an interim basis. On Monday, 3 October, 11:00, the festive inauguration of Sebastian Schütze is taking place in the Main Ceremonial Hall of the University of Vienna.

"As new Rector, I would like to continue the successful course of the University in its core areas of research and teaching. To respond to today’s grand societal challenges – the buzzwords being climate change, energy shortage, war in Ukraine, COVID-19 pandemic – the plurality of perspectives at the University of Vienna based on its wide range of disciplines is in more demand than ever for finding solutions. Universities provide stability and orientation, especially in times of crises. This also applies to consistent funding of research at interfaces, where different disciplines are joining forces to tackle socially relevant questions. This is where innovation occurs," explains Sebastian Schütze.

About Sebastian Schütze

Following important academic positions at the Freie Universität Berlin, the Bibliotheca Hertziana (Max Planck Institute for Art History) in Rome and the Queen’s University in Kingston/Canada, Sebastian Schütze has been Professor of Modern Art History at the University of Vienna since 2009, as well as Dean of the Faculty of Historical and Culture Studies since 2018. He is a full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. His research focusses on Italy’s art history and cultural history, the history of collections in Vienna and Central Europe as well as the productive interactions between literature and visual arts. A matter of particular concern is making his research findings accessible for a larger audience, also in international exhibitions.

About Manuela Baccarini, Vice-Rector for Research and International Affairs

Manuela Baccarini, Professor of Cell Signalling at the Max Perutz Labs of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, will serve as Vice-Rector for Research and International Affairs from 1 October 2022 onwards. Manuela Baccarini was born in Italy and completed her doctoral studies at the Sapienza University of Rome. Following positions at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, at the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine in Hanover, and at the Albert Einstein College of the Yeshiva University in New York, Baccarini was group leader at the Fraunhofer Institute, before she joined the Department of Microbiology, Immunobiology and Genetics at the Centre for Molecular Biology of the University of Vienna. From 2007 until 2017, she was Vice-Dean and deputy director at the Max Perutz Labs. Until September 2022, Baccarini was director of the Vienna BioCenter PhD Program of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, and is director of doctoral studies in Molecular Biology (University of Vienna) and in Molecular Biosciences (joint PhD programme offered by the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna). Furthermore, Manuela Baccarini is a member of EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization) and corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

About Ronald Maier, Vice-Rector for Digitalisation and Knowledge Transfer

Ronald Maier has been Vice-Rector for Digitalisation and Knowledge Transfer at the University of Vienna since 1 October 2019. He was Professor of Information Systems and, since 2008, head of the Department of Information Systems, Production and Logistics Management at the University of Innsbruck. Maier studied Business Informatics at the Johannes Kepler University Linz and obtained his doctorate from the Otto Beisheim School of Management in Koblenz (WHU), Germany. Following a visiting professorship at the Terry College of Business, University of Georgia in Athens (US), he received his habilitation degree from the University of Regensburg in 2001. From 2002 until 2007, Maier held a chair in Management Information Systems at the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.

About Christa Schnabl, Vice-Rector for Educational Affairs

Christa Schnabl was Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Continuing Education at the University of Vienna from 2007 to 2011 and has been Vice-Rector for Educational Affairs since 2011. She studied catholic theology at the University of Vienna. Following professional activities in the field of theological adult education and a study and research stay in Münster, Germany, Schnabl obtained her doctoral degree from the University of Vienna in 1998 on the topic of Hanna Arendt’s relevance for theological ethics. Schnabl received her habilitation degree in the field of social ethics in 2004 and was visiting professor in Frankfurt am Main and Fribourg. She was professor at the former Department of Social Ethics of the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Vienna, as well as Vice-Dean of the Faculty until 2007.

About Regina Hitzenberger, Vice-Rector for Infrastructure (until the end of 2022)

Regina Hitzenberger has been Vice-Rector for Infrastructure since 2015. She studied physics, astronomy and mathematics at the University of Vienna and obtained her doctoral degree in 1982. Following research stays in the US and Japan, Hitzenberger received her habilitation degree in 1993. From 1997 to 2011, she was associate professor at the Faculty of Physics. Since 2012, she has been Professor of Aerosol and Cluster Physics at the University of Vienna. Regina Hitzenberger is a member of the American Association for Aerosol Research and the American Geophysical Union.

Monday, 3 October, 11:00, Main Ceremonial Hall at the University of Vienna: festive inauguration

The festive inauguration of Sebastian Schütze on Monday, 3 October, 11:00 is also live-streamed.