With 30,000 students and 4,700 employees in research, teaching and administration, the University of Graz is one of the largest, most traditional, but also most innovative universities in Austria. Students can currently choose from more than 120 bachelor’s, master’s, diploma and doctoral programs at six faculties. Since 2021, the Start-up and Innovation Hub UNICORN has been specifically strengthening start-up activities on campus, networking researchers with entrepreneurs and bringing companies even closer to the university. One substantive focus is on start-ups and spin-offs in the fields of modern aging and demographic change.

The University of Graz bundles top research at an international level in five fields of excellence: Climate Change, BioHealth, Complexity of Life in Basic Research and Innovation, Smart Regulation and Dimensions of Europeanization.

In Climate Change Graz, more than one hundred researchers investigate climate change and which economic, production-related, social, political and legal changes are necessary for a sustainable transformation. The field of excellence BioHealth consists of two focal points: On the one hand, the researchers want to decipher the molecular mechanisms behind the development of various diseases – such as cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes or Alzheimer’s disease – in order to lay the foundation for new therapies. On the other hand, they are developing environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, for example in the production of medicines.

By initiating interdisciplinary partnerships, the University of Graz is a key player in Styria as a business and research location. It is linked to Graz University of Technology through the successful cooperation in natural science education, NAWI Graz. There is also close cooperation with the universities of teacher education through teacher training. As a partner in the BioTechMed-Graz platform, Styria’s largest university – together with Graz University of Technology and Med Uni Graz – is dedicated to the fields of human technology, medicine, pharmacy and psychology with the aim of conducting joint research for health.