Campus Academy: New knowledge center in the heart of Vienna

With the Campus Academy, the district around the old University of Vienna has been transformed into a modern center of knowledge. From now on, a new research mile stretches from the main building of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) via Sonnenfelsgasse and Bäckerstraße to the former Postsparkasse. Just in time for the anniversary of the OeAW, this new place of science and encounters between science and the public was ceremoniously opened on May 11^th.

1,200 jobs for basic research

This was preceded by a comprehensive renovation and modernization of the buildings of the "Old University", which date back to the 17^th century, from January 2020 by the Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (BIG) and under the planning of Riepl Kaufmann Bammer Architektur. The Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research provided a total of 34.5 million euros for this work.

Just in time for the 175^th anniversary of the OeAW, the area between Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz and Bäckerstraße, which has been renovated in line with listed building regulations in cooperation with the Federal Monuments Office, shines in fresh splendor. Together with the former Vienna Postsparkasse at Georg-Coch-Platz, where the OeAW is the largest tenant, the new Campus Academy comprises around 30,000 square meters and provides for a total of around 1,200 jobs for basic research in the center of Vienna.

Beacon of science in the center of Vienna

"With the Campus Academy, we are bringing one of the most traditional knowledge spaces in Vienna into the 21^st century. Science has been practiced here since 1385, when the Collegium Ducale laid the foundation for the University of Vienna. We are building on this long tradition," says Anton Zeilinger, President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. "Today we are opening a campus in the heart of the city that will be a vibrant knowledge center for basic research and for the general public. Due to the interdisciplinary approach of the campus, the institutes located here cover all areas of research – from art to artificial intelligence. This will result in completely new connections between the humanities, natural, cultural and social sciences," Zeilinger is convinced.

"The Campus Academy, which we have revitalized for the Austrian Academy of Sciences, is located in the heart of Vienna's city center. From a heterogeneous building complex that has grown over centuries, BIG has developed a well thought-out, unique ensemble with a campus character. An absolute highlight is the spacious arcaded courtyard with a Mediterranean flair, which was neglected and inaccessible before the renovation. Now it is becoming part of the city and is open to everyone," says Hans-Peter Weiss, CEO of the Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft, adding: "Designing buildings that are home to science and research and that are also public places is a particular expertise of the BIG. With the Campus Academy, inspiring spaces have been created for the scientists of the OeAW. The campus is completed by the historic Otto Wagner building at Georg-Coch-Platz, into which other OeAW institutes and other university and research institutes are moving."

Martin Polaschek, Federal Minister of Education, Science and Research: "Science has found a new home. Teaching and research have been taking place here for centuries, and now the best minds in the country have a place that will further promote their excellent work. The new Campus Academy is a beacon of science in the center of Vienna. The opening of the venerable institution to all people is also an emphatic sign in the fight to strengthen trust in science and democracy."

From archeology to digital humanities to particle physics

The research mile stretching from Seipel-Platz to Coch-Platz will offer a new home to many of the OeAW institutes from the humanities and social sciences as well as from the natural sciences. For example, the Austrian Center for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage, the Institute for Urban and Regional Research and the Institute of Technology Assessment will have a new address at Bäckerstraße 13.

The Acoustics Research Institute, the Institute of High Energy Physics and the Austrian Archaeological Institute will be located in the former Postsparkasse. The Austrian Archaeological Institute exemplifies the successful combination of a wide variety of disciplines, where the most modern chemical and physical methods are combined with humanities methods during excavations and analyses. The Campus Academy will foster such interdisciplinarity.

Open to all

Not only research, but also the public will benefit from the Campus Academy. A showpiece of the area is the former library of the old university with its 240 square meter baroque ceiling fresco by Anton Hertzog. Here, across 350 square meters including an imposing gallery, the thousands of books from the OeAW library find their home – accessible to science and the public alike, barrier-free.

The opening of science to society also finds architectural resonance, for example in the inner courtyard of the campus building on Bäckerstraße: via the glass entrance, you can reach the arcades to the library that were once walled up and have now been uncovered. The courtyard of the building complex constructed in 1630 is also accessible again: a "G'stettn" (in Viennese dialect) before the renovation, a green zone is now open to visitors as an oasis of calm and reflection.

Two event rooms on the ground floor, together with the halls in the main building of the Academy, also offer the opportunity for a variety of event formats and direct exchange with people interested in science and research, as for example at the Long Night of Research on May 20^th. Science can therefore be experienced at this location and the Campus Academy becomes a campus of curiosity.