World University Service (WUS) Austria

Since its establishment in Graz in 1983 World University Service (WUS) Austria has been working on the promotion of higher education in various countries all over the world. Today WUS Austria implements its activities mainly in Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia, while some programs have been extended to many other countries, mainly in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe. Therefore, WUS Austria has set up local offices in Belgrade, Podgorica, Prishtina and Sarajevo. Today, WUS Austria employs approximately 35 permanent staff and administers an annual budget of 3 million EUR. WUS Austria focuses on four core areas: Higher Education Development, Linking Higher Education & Economy, Arts & Culture and Higher Education & Human Rights. While higher education and South-Eastern Europe remain at the center of WUS Austria’s work, the organization is also looking to extend the scope and geographic focus of its services. This refers particularly to an enhanced knowledge transfer between universities, the business world and society at large, and to WUS Austria’s efforts to expand its activities to Africa, Latin America and Central Asia. Within the scope of these projects, WUS Austria cooperates above all with the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, the Austrian Development Agency, the Austrian Ministry for Science and Research, the European Union and other (inter) national organizations, as well as with universities in South Eastern Europe, Austria and the EU.