Mind Your Data

Data security is one of the most important concerns when selecting online services. Students in WU’s Privacy & Security Master Class have created a brochure on this subject. The publication evaluates online services such as Gmail, Instagram, Facebook, and Google Maps with regard to data security and transparency, and recommends fairer alternatives to these well-known services. The brochure is available online free of charge and has already been downloaded more than 20,000 times.

Becoming an Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship is one of the key qualifications for the 21^st century. To help young people learn these valuable skills, the WU Entrepreneurship Center offers a special entrepreneurship program for students. In the first phase of the Changemaker Program, students learn basic entrepreneurship skills in an email course. The second module offers workshops on more advanced skills, and the third module is a real-life project where students can put their newly acquired knowledge into practice.

The students in the first cohort were tasked with teaching entrepreneurial skills to elementary school students, helping them develop business ideas, and organizing a market day. Both the WU students and the schoolkids were very enthusiastic about the project. It all came together in May: 300 kids from 13 elementary schools, 50 teachers and family members, and 42 WU students set up their market stands and presented their ideas in the aula of the TC building. 750 guests attended the market day, and were very impressed by the diversity and creativity of the presentations.

Social Commitment

For students interested in getting involved in social projects, WU’s Volunteering@WU program is just the thing. The initiative “Lernen macht Schule” was launched in 2010, and since then WU students have been donating their time to support kids and teens from Caritas and Red Cross institutions. They help the kids with their schoolwork and join in on recreational activities. WU volunteers are also involved in summer camps and a music project in which kids and teens sing in a choir with their student Mentors.

Since the fall of 2015, WU has also been offering German classes for refugees. These courses are intended to help displaced persons interested in starting or continuing their academic education by providing the language skills needed to enroll in a WU program. 40 refugees enroll in free German classes at WU as non-degree-program students every Semester.

SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Internship Programme

Since 2018, WU students can also apply for a three-month internship in the field of development cooperation. The SDG Internship Programme offers WU students the opportunity to work in Mozambique, Senegal, Uganda, Kenya, or Nicaragua. The students are placed with a partner organization in the country of their choice, where they can put their specialist expertise to good use.

The SDG Internship Programme is a cooperation between WU, the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna, the Vienna University of Technology, the Institute for International Development at the University of Vienna, and Horizont3000, Austria’s largest development cooperation NGO.