Decentral initiatives

In an organisation of the size and heterogeneity as the University of Vienna, there are many different initiatives regarding equality, diversity and the reconciliation of work, care and well-being. On this page we collect best practice examples from faculties, centres and service units that are essential for achieving the goal of a university free of discrimination.

Submission

Tell us about your initiative!

Does your organisational unit have measures and initiatives around equality, diversity and/or work-(self-)care reconciliation? Let us know and send us the following information to femail@univie.ac.at:

  • organisational unit
  • name/title of the initiative
  • a short description (1-2 sentences) with the target group (if there is one)
  • link to more information and/or a contact person

Association of several faculties

Research platform GAIN – Gender: Ambivalent In_Visibilities

The interdisciplinary research platform GAIN - Gender: Ambivalent In_Visibilities deals with complex processes of in_visibilities that shape power relations between genders. Visibility is an essential, albeit ambivalent factor of influence: visibility is necessary to prompt societal change; but it can also be a threat. GAIN is devoted to the gendered challenges from an intersectional perspective.

Contact: Speaker (PI)  of the reseach platform: Univ.Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Holzleithner, Professor for legal philosophy and legal gender studies at the Department of Legal Philosophy

Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences

ViDSS Forum: Navigating Intersectionalities and Creating Opportunities in Academia

The ViDSS Forum: Navigating Intersectionalities and Creating Opportunities in Academia offers a platform for the safe exchange of experiences of discrimination and inequality for people somehow marked as "other" due to various identity categories. This group provides peer support for researchers at the Faculty of Social Sciences. In addition, the forum works on measures to raise awareness.

Contact: Faime Alpagu

Faculty of Physics

Diversity Coordinator

In October 2022, a position for equality and diversity was established at the Faculty of Physics in order to create a sustainable, non-discriminatory and diversity-friendly working and study environment for all members of the faculty. The Diversity Coordinator sees herself as the on-site contact person for all matters relating to gender equality and diversity.

Here you will find further information.

Consultation hours: Tuesday and Thursday 10:00-12:00 with registration

Contact: Mag. Brigitte Bischof

Vienna University Library and Archive Services

Working Group Colonial Contexts in the University Library - Decolonize the library!

Library wokr that is critical of racism takes a conscious and critical look at and contextualisation of the historically grown inventory and the inclucion of diversity in the current building of stock. A first visible sign for this process is the establishment of a racism critical location in the Textbook Collection, both physically and online. Events to raise awareness and for further sensitisation of library employees as well as empowerment strategies for library users are key to lived diversity.

Contact: Birgit Athumani Hango, Birgit Kramreither

Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy

Gender and Diversity @ FGGA

The Gender and Diversity @ FGGA team aims to foster a gender- and diversity-sensitive culture at the faculty. Among other things, it works towards creating awareness of the problems and difficulties female scientists and members of other minorities/groups are facing in academics and enhance their visibility (see our initiative on the Women in Science Day 2023), develops counter-strategies to, e.g. reduce the loss of women and parents in science, and helps to build a strong and productive gender- and diversity-related network within the faculty.

Contact: Gender- and Diversity-team (E-Mail)

Department of Philosophy

Anti-Racism Working Group

The Anti-Racism Working Group was founded to foster anti-racist action-taking at the institute for philosophy when it comes to teaching (decolonization of syllabi, dealing with racist assertions when teaching...) as well as department life.

Contact: Anti-Racism Working Group

Other offers

You can also find points of call and offers at the University of Vienna aside from the Culture and Equality unit here: