First Year Students - Getting Started

Step 1: Personal Admission at the University of Vienna

Please consult the website of the Admission Office for details!

Step 2: Course Registration via u:space

All courses offered at the department in the upcoming term can be found in the online course directory u:find (0.03 Multidisciplinary courses → Science and Technology Studies).

Please note the registration period, which is announced at least 4 weeks before the semester starts. Make sure that you register for your courses in time! (for details regarding u:space, please see below*)

If you are still in the admissions process for the master programme, and will not be able to complete the admissions procedure in person, you will not have access to the u:space platform. In this case, please send a list with the courses you would like to take to ta.sts@univie.ac.at.

Recommended courses for the 1st semester: the core classes

A number of modules, which are scheduled to be completed in the first semester, are a pre-requisite for attending courses in the subsequent terms. We thus strongly recommend that you take all of the five courses below, which we call the core classes, in your first semester. These core classes will not be offered in the summer term.

1. Module BM A: Basic and Central Questions in the Field of STS
  • VO Science, Technology, Society (STS): Key-questions and Concepts
  • KO Discussion Class: Key-questions and Concepts
2. Module BM B: Theoretical and Methodological Approaches in the Social Studies of Science
  • SE Social Science Research Methods in STS
  • SE Risky Entanglements? Theorising Science, Technology and Society Relationships
3. Module SP: Scientific Practice
  • SE Scientific Practice and Knowledge Management

 

Module Additional Social Science Research Methods

If you have additional social science research methods courses prescribed in your letter of acceptance, you may take one of these courses in the first semester as well. If you got assigned 20 ECTS of additional social science research methods courses and want to finish in 4 semesters, you will have to take one such course each semester, as the department only offers one of these courses per semester.

Step 3: Kick-off Meeting and Welcoming Event

The first semester officially starts with a kick-off meeting. At this meeting you will be introduced to the master programme and get to know your lecturers, teaching assistants and fellow students. Attendance at this meeting is mandatory. In case you are not able to attend the kick-off meeting, please write an email to the teaching assistants (ta.sts@univie.ac.at).

*Course Registration via u:space

If you want to attend a course in the master STS, you have to register via the central electronic registration system u:space. If you, despite following all of the instructions below, should encounter difficulties in the registration process or if you have any further questions regarding u:space, please contact the teaching assistants at ta.sts@univie.ac.at.

The University of Vienna recently published a series of videos that aim to help students find their way through the registration process.

To register for a course please complete the following steps

  1. Log into u:space with your u:account
  2. Go to [Studies] -> [Record of Examination] -> [A 066 906 Master’s degree programme Science-
    Technology-Society]
  3. Expand the desired module by clicking on the arrow to the left
  4. Click on the little blue book symbol. This will take you to u:find were you can select the courses that are connected to the respective module. Click on the respective course
  5. Register as described, and save
  6. Your registration has been successful if the status reads “vorgemerkt” (=registration is pending)

Alternatively, you can also directly go to u:find, select a course and then click "Register/Deregister for this course".
You can look at all your registrations at u:space -> [courses] -> [Registration overview].

 FAQs Course Registration

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  • How do I find courses for the STS master in u:space and register for them?
    1. You can go to u:find, select a course and then click [Register/Deregister for this course] -
      alternatively, log into u:space with your u:account.
    2. Choose [Studies]  [Course and Examination Registration System]  [new registration]. Then, under [director of the studies programme] pick
      “Wissenschaftsforschung – Social Studies of Science”. Make sure that [semester] is either set to the correct semester or left blank. Click [search]. A list of all courses offered by the Department of Science and Technology Studies should appear. Please note, that you can only find courses in U:SPACE within the registration period.
    3. To register for a course, select the course you want to take and complete the registration procedure. If it says "vorgemerkt" in your overview of courses then you have successfully pre-registered for the course.
  • Is it possible to withdraw from a course once one is registered?

    You may withdraw from any course using u:space after the first few sessions of the course without negative consequences. Each course has a deadline until which deregistration is possible. You can find this deadline in the description of the respective course on u:find. You cannot deregister from a course after this deadline and will therefore be graded with "fail" (5) if you do not fulfil the course requirements.

  • What about lecture exams?

    As stated above, there is no registration for lectures (VO). However, if you want to take a lecture exam,
    you have to register for the exam via u:space. Dates of exams as well as registration and deregistration periods will be announced via moodle and can also be found on the department's website.

    If you want to take an exam, you have to register during the registration period.
    You cannot take the exam if you are not properly registered for it. If you decide that you do not want to
    take the exam after all, you have to deregister within the registration period, otherwise you will be banned from taking the exam at the subsequent exam date.

    The registration process for exams is similar to the one for courses, except you have to search for
    ‘Wissenschaftsforschung – Prüfungsanmeldung Vorlesung’ and the semester in which you took the
    lecture (or leave the semester blank).

  • How are places allocated?

    Registration is based on a preference system. This means that you have to rank the courses you would like to register for. You have to specify which course is the most important to you, which course comes second, which is third, and so on. In u:space, this ranking is done after the initial registration for the courses, under [my registrations].

    In general terms, it is important to know that from our current point of view, it is very unlikely that any shortage of available places in the master courses will occur. Hence, much of the information below, particularly on the allocation procedure of places, will probably remain theoretical. Still, even if a competitive allocation of places is unlikely, please choose your “preferences” carefully as described below.

    In case the number of pre-registered students exceeds the number of available places at the end of the registration period, allocation will be done based on these preferences. This means that first all students who ranked that course as #1 will be allocated, then those who ranked it second, and so on. If, for any given subset of students, the number of available places exceeds the number of students with an equal ranking, the system allocates the available places at random. For example, if a course has 25 available places, 20 people have chosen it as first preference, and 8 as second preference, then the 20 will automatically be registered, and the remaining five places will be allocated by chance between the remaining eight students.

    Please note that generally our courses are not overbooked. So it is very likely that even third, fourth or fifth preferences will result in a valid registration. Hence, please only register for courses you really intend to take. Also, the registration system does not take into account when you register, as long as it is within the registration period. There is no bonus for registering early.

  • I’m desperate about u:space – what should I do?

    The University of Vienna offers some helpful tutorial videos on their YouTube Channel. Furthermore, you can find information, or contact the support team on: studieren.univie.ac.at. If your question cannot be answered please do not hesitate to contact us via ta.sts@univie.ac.at.

  • When and how do I know that I got a place in the course?

    Shortly after the registration period has ended, you will be automatically notified via e-mail about the outcome of the registration procedure. Please note that this notification will only be sent to your u:account email, so make sure that you check this email-address regularly or that you have activated email forwarding to another email address.

    Also note, that attendance in the first unit of a course is absolutely mandatory. All unexcused no-shows will be de-registered. If you cannot attend the first session but want to take the course, please contact the course teacher and the teaching assistants (ta.sts@univie.ac.at).

  • u:space wants to know which program module the course belongs to – what is that about?

    u:space is not only a registration system, but also keeps track of your examination results and your study progress in an electronic examination record. To do so, it needs to know which module you would like the registered course to be attributed to. In most cases, particularly in the first semester, only one choice will be given, as courses are related to a specific module. In the research specialisations starting in the second semester however, some courses may be done as part of two different modules, and you will have to choose which one you would like to do it for. RS seminars get automatically put into your individual specialization (IS) if you do not change this allocation. Please make sure to put your seminars in the correct specializations, to save yourself and the secretariat a lot of time and problems once you choose to graduate.
    Should you want to change module allocations, you can always do that under ‘Record of Examinations’ by clicking on the eye on the right side of a course and opening the detailed view.

  • What pre-conditions do I need for registering?

    To be able to register for courses, you have to be enrolled in the master's programme and have a valid u:account-ID. A u:account-ID  is the unique electronic identification number every student receives when registering at the University of Vienna.

  • For which courses do I need to register?

    Registration is mandatory for all courses of the types SE (seminar), SE-MA (master seminar) and KO (discussion class). There is no registration for classes of the type VO (lecture).

  • When can I register?

    You can register within the indicated registration period (indicated at least 4 weeks before the semester starts).