(Vienna, 20 October 2026) Following the announcement last Saturday of cuts to the university budget, all Austrian universities are calling for a mass demonstration at the Vienna University of Technology on Thursday, 22 October 2026, at 3 pm.
In the current performance agreement period 2025–2027, the 22 Austrian universities have a total budget of 16.5 billion euros at their disposal. The Universities’ Conference has made it clear that, given the inflation forecasts for the forthcoming performance agreement period 2028–2030, an increase to 18 billion euros would be necessary to continue day-to-day operations in their current form. Instead, a budget of 16 billion euros has now been set.
Taking expected inflation into account, this allocation would amount to a de facto cut in the university budget of around 10 per cent. A cut on this scale would be impossible for Austrian universities to implement without serious consequences for research, teaching and patient care. Universities are the cornerstones of our country. They underpin innovation, competitiveness, democratic stability, civil defence and the training of the skilled workers that Austria will urgently need in the coming years. Whilst a doubling of the ‘Horizon Europe’ research framework programme has been announced at European level, Austria would significantly weaken its universities with these plans.
Cuts on the scale now confirmed will therefore not only affect research and teaching, but may also jeopardise university-based medical care and, in the long term, lead to a noticeable reduction in medical capacity in Austria.
Averting this scenario must now be our common goal.
Mass demonstration on 22 October 2026
Start: 3.00 pm
Meeting point: Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien)
Karlsplatz 13, 1040 Vienna