Austrian Research and Technology Report 2020

part of most computer science degrees but are also 
found in degrees such as mechatronics and electrical 
engineering. In the 2019 winter semester, the Jo-
hannes Kepler University Linz became the first univer-
sity in Austria to offer both a bachelor’s and a master’s 
degree programme called Artificial Intelligence. Uni-
versities also offer specialised continuing education 
courses. In 2019, for instance, Graz University of Tech-
nology developed a two-day course in “AI Essentials” 
in cooperation with Know-Center that is intended par-
ticularly for business owners and entrepreneurs.
153 See Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) and Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs 
(BMDW) (2019b).
Amongst the universities of applied sciences, ma-
ny offer courses with a practical bent that explore AI 
and teach relevant basic knowledge in this area. Rel-
evant courses on computer science, mechatronics, 
automation engineering, robotics, 
data science
and 
other topics are offered at the universities of applied 
sciences in Upper Austria, Salzburg, Carinthia, Bur-
genland and Vorarlberg, at the University of Applied 
Sciences Kufstein Tirol, MCI Management Center 
Innsbruck, St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, 
University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, FH 
Joanneum University of Applied Sciences, CAMPUS 
02 University of Applied Sciences, UAS Technikum 
Wien, and at FH Campus Wien.
Experts consulted to draft a strategy for artificial 
intelligence recommend increasing the amount of AI 
taught at higher education institutions in order to 
make the relevant competencies accessible to as ma-
ny people as possible and place emphasis on anchor-
ing AI in the curriculum. Throughout this anchoring 
process, AI must always be understood as an in-
ter-disciplinary topic and must include topics from 
the humanities and social sciences as well. Existing 
competency areas are also to be strengthened fur-
ther. Other recommendations are to set up research 
funding programmes for machine learning, expert 
systems, robotics, autonomous systems and comput-
er vision and to enhance knowledge and technology 
transfer.
153