WU: New Campus and Strategic Repositioning

The new Campus WU celebrated its grand opening on Friday, October 4. The cere-mony was attended by the President of the Federal Republic of Austria Heinz Fischer, Minister for Science and Research Karlheinz Töchterle, and Vice-Mayor of Vienna Renate Brauner. Rector Christoph Badelt sees the campus as a new beginning for WU and introduced a new campaign.

Diversity, open-mindedness, innovation, and responsibility – the new Campus WU is the concrete realization of WU’s vision for a modern university. The spectacular architecture of its new home is also an opportunity for WU to strategically reposition itself. Friday’s ceremony marked not only the completion of a major project, but also the start of a new era for the university, according to Rector Badelt. “The Republic’s investment in this project is both a challenge and an inspiration for WU to redefine its role in the nation and in the scientific community,” said Badelt. 

WU’s obligations to the economy, society, and the government

In his speech, Rector Badelt expressed WU’s gratitude to the political decision makers responsible for approving the project, to the citizens of Austria for financing it with their tax money, and to everyone involved in the actual planning and construction of the new campus.  After the speech, Wolfgang Gleissner, Managing Director of BIG Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (a company which manages Austrian publicly owned real estate), presented the Rector with a symbolic “key” to the campus.

“Normally,” said Gleissner, “BIG puts up buildings and rents them to tenants. This project is different, because we founded a joint special purpose entity to build it, and will be managing the property together with WU, guaranteeing the highest standards in cooperation.” Al-though the final statement of costs isn’t expected to be presented until next year, Gleissner confirmed that the entire project remained not only on schedule, but also within budget.

Minister for Science and Research Karlheinz Töchterle called the new campus “a gem of European university architecture that is already earning international respect.” He continued, “The new campus, in which we invested close to half a billion euro, will provide both students and staff with excellent conditions and ideal opportunities for the exchange of knowledge and ideas, which is crucial for science and research.” Töchterle emphasized the sustainable aspects of the project, for example the energy concept, and said, “WU is also fulfilling its ecological responsibility.” 

WU sees it as its obligation to the economy, society, and the government to make a sustainable contribution to a new and improved economy. This is one of the basic principles the University now wants to bring to the forefront. Further priorities include: Encouraging a diversity of perspectives on business, economics, and society; an international and open-minded attitude towards academic, intellectual exchange and real-life business practice; and innovative thinking to create new ways of dealing with business and economic phenomena of the 21st century and to generate modern theories and practical advice for the business community.