Dean of Studies

Mag.art. Konrad Strutz

Dean of Studies office hours: Tuesday 11:00 - 13:00, Thursday 11:00 - 13:00.
Oskar-Kokoschka-Platz 2, Ferstel-Trakt, ground floor

Please arrange appointments through email to both kurt.wallner@uni-ak.ac.at and studiendekan@uni-ak.ac.at!
Provide the following information: Name, enrollment number (Matrikelnummer), field of study / program, short description of the matter to be discussed, phone number.

The Dean of Studies handles the following tasks:

  • Authorizing the taking of exams for studies at a university other than the university of admission (§ 63 para. 9 Z 2 Universities Act)
  • Authorizing applications for leave of absence from studies (§ 67 para. 1 Univ. Act)
  • Nullifying  an officially notified exam result when enrolment to the exam was achieved by fraudulent means (§ 73 para. 1 Univ. Act)
  • Issuing certificates for degrees obtained (§ 74 para. 3 Univ. Act)
  • Calling on professionally qualified examiners for admission exams and supplementary tests (§ 75 para. 1 Univ. Act)
  • If required, calling on persons with a comparable authorization to teach at other recognized domestic or foreign education institutions for tutoring activities and assessing diploma theses, master theses, and dissertations (statute section "Study Law" § 10 para. 2)
  • If required, calling on professionally qualified examiners to act as head of a course for course exams (statute section "Organizational Law / Board Examinations“ § 7 para.1)
  • Appointing board members for examination committees (statute section "Organizational Law / Board Examinations“ § 7)
  • Stipulating the more detailed terms regarding the organizational aspects of carrying out exams (statute section "Study Law" § 8 para. 3)
  • Issuing the recognition to positively assessed exams for regular students of other approved domestic or foreign post-secondary educational institutions, or a higher vocational college, or a college of education,  or studies at recognized educational institutions requiring general university entrance qualifications, or a course at university level – under the proviso that the exams in question are of equal value to the exams of the curriculum (§ 78 para. 1 Univ. Act)
  • Issuing the recognition to positively assessed exams of a non-degree student that were taken at an educational institution pursuant to § 78 para. 1 Univ. Act, provided the exams are of equal value to the compulsory exams in the curriculum of the university course  (§ 78 para. 9 Univ. Act)
  • Issuing an official notice to revoke negatively assessed exams in case of serious flaws in their execution (§ 79 para. 1 Univ. Act)
  • Ensuring the safe-keeping of assessment documents not handed out to the student, for a duration of at least 6 months from the date of the assessment announcement (§ 79 para. 3 Univ. Act)
  • Authorizing the application to exclude from use certain scientific and artistic works submitted to the university library pursuant to § 86 para. 1 Univ. Act for a period of 5 years max. from the time of submission (§ 86 para. 4 Univ. Act)
  • Issuing notifications regarding the awarding of academic degrees to graduates of the regular study programmes (§ 87 para. 1 Univ. Act)
  • Issuing notifications regarding the awarding of academic degrees to graduates of  university courses  (§ 87 para. 2 Univ. Act)
  • Issuing official notices regarding the nullifying of award notifications of domestic academic degrees (§ 89 Univ. Act)
  • Issuing the recognition to a foreign graduation as completion of a domestic regular study (Nostrification, § 90 para. 3 Univ. Act)
  • Issuing an official notice to revoke the nostrification of completed studies, particularly when these were obtained by way of false certificates (§ 90 para.5 Univ. Act)

(granting recognition to a foreign academic degree)

Nostrification – explanatory notes regarding the application form

Universities Act 2002 § 90:


  1. Applying for recognition to a foreign degree as the successful completion of a domestic, regular study (nostrification) requires evidence that the nostrification is absolutely necessary for applicants to work or continue their education in Austria. More detailed terms are to be determined in the Statute. (EXPLANATION: This means that in general all academic degrees awarded at recognized secondary education institutions within the area of the EU are not to be nostrified. For all other applicants of a nostrification the restrictions under (1) apply). However, such graduates reserve the right to use the degree acquired in their home country and, in Austria, add it after their last name.
  2. The application is to be submitted to the university at which the applicant is registered for the relevant, domestic course of studies. It is not permissible to submit the same nostrification application to another university either at the same time or after withdrawing it from the first one.
  3. The nostrification is to be granted with an official notification issued by the governing body responsible for study law matters. The notification is to stipulate the domestic graduation that equals the foreign one and to state which domestic, academic degree based on the nostrification the applicant is entitled to use instead of the foreign degree. The fact that a notification was issued is to be recorded on the document presented as evidence of the foreign graduation.
  4. An official notice to revoke the nostrification is to be issued when the nostrification was attained fraudulently, particularly when false certificates were involved.
  5. The fee to nostrify a foreign graduation amounts to €150. The fee is to be paid in advance. This payment will be forfeited if the application for nostrification is rejected or withdrawn.

Statute, II. Part, Study Law § 12:

Application for Nostrification:

•    In the application for nostrification the applicant is to name the domestic course of studies, and the intended domestic academic degree, that is comparable to the foreign studies. The following documentation is to be enclosed to the application:
o     passport,
o     evidence that the recognized foreign post-secondary education institution is of comparable quality to a recognized domestic post-secondary education institution if this is not beyond doubt for the Dean of Studies,
o    evidence regarding the studies completed at the recognized foreign post-secondary education institution if these are not already known to the Dean of Studies,
o    the particular certificate that was issued as evidence of the academic degree, or if  such degree was not to be awarded, issued as evidence of the duly completed studies.
•    In case of certificates in a foreign language, the applicant is to submit authorized translations. Pursuant to para. 1 Z 4 the certificate is to be presented in the original.
•    The Dean of Studies is entitled to waive the obligation to submit certain documents if they are satisfied that it would be impossible or excessively difficult to present these within a reasonable period of time, and if the documents submitted provide a sufficient basis for a decision.
•    Taking into consideration which curriculum was valid at the time of applying, it is to be verified that the foreign course of studies was set up to result in an overall education equal to the one of the domestic course of studies named in the application. It is permissible to use a sample test to achieve more detailed knowledge about the contents of the foreign study course.
•    If equal value exists in principle and only individual supplements are missing to achieve full equivalence, the Dean of Studies is to issue an official notice to admit the applicant to the course of studies as a non-degree student, with the instruction to take exams and produce either a scientific paper or artistic diploma thesis in order to achieve equivalence within a reasonable period that is to be stipulated in the official notice.
•    The regulations regarding recognition to exams, scientific papers, and artistic diploma theses are not to be applied.


Information regarding the Recognition to Exams

The Dean of Studies advises as follows: Universities Act 2002

Granting Recognition to Exams
§ 78.


  • Positively assessed exams that regular students took at an approved domestic or foreign post-secondary educational institution, or a higher vocational college, or a college of education,  or in studies at recognized educational institutions requiring general university entrance qualifications, or in a course at university level, need the regular student’s application for recognition submitted to the governing body responsible for study law matters who will issue the appropriate notification, provided the exams are of equal value to the compulsory exams of the curriculum. Exams passed in a subject at a domestic university or a university of the European Union or European Economic Area are to be recognized for further study of the same subject at another domestic university provided the number of ECTS credit points is the same or only slightly different…  The recognition of exams taken at another university which contravene the provisions of § 63 para. 8 and 9 is excluded...

For all queries and applications regarding recognition to exams, students are requested to get an application form from the office of the Dean of Studies. This form is to be completed  and, together with all necessary attachments (certificates, documents, curriculum analyses, etc.) to be submitted to the office of the Dean of Studies, or – during the normal running of study programmes – to be handed in personally during the office hours of the Dean of Studies on Tuesdays 13:00 – 15:00 hrs and Wednesdays 10:00 - 12:00 hrs.