New opportunities for US Fulbright students: renewal of the student mobility agreement with the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

4 October 2022
Back

Fulbright Austria is delighted to announce a new mobility agreement with the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) that offers exciting opportunities for performing US artists.

The arts are an integral part of the DNA of Austrian culture, and Fulbright Austria is dedicated to supporting aspiring artists on both sides of the Atlantic to strengthen the bonds that unite the US and Austria. With the support of our institutional partners and cooperating agencies in both countries, we are in a position to offer 28 hyphenated awards for US scholars and students.

The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) is among the world's most renowned universities specialized in the performing arts, ensuring mdw has a special standing in the Austrian educational landscape. In 2021, mdw managed about 1,556 students and hosted 470 staff and faculty members on its campuses in Vienna, Salzburg, and Nuremberg.

Since 1950, Fulbright Austria has placed over 185 US students and eight US scholars at mdw. Since 2011, we have been had an institutionalized partnership with mdw to allow US Fulbright students to do their research at the university’s campus in Vienna. In 2022, we renewed the agreement with mdw and established new opportunities for US students in Austria.

For both mdw and Fulbright Austria, the dialogue between art, science, and education is an essential part of our missions. Focusing on the future, mdw’s team utilizes a critical approach to mentor their students and discuss the questions and challenges of our time. mdw’s trains its students in a way that combines strong research performance with a unique multi-professional education. In the 2022–23 program year, Fulbright Austria has placed two Fulbright-Mach Award students and one combined grantee at mdw to pursue their Fulbright research activities.

We are so delighted to announce that the new student mobility agreement marks the start of the next chapter of our partnership with mdw. This agreement goes beyond research-focused projects and, starting in 2023, will allow US performing-arts students to apply to the university as part of the Fulbright application process. This opportunity is available to US students at all degree levels, including graduate-level students and PhD candidates. Stay tuned for the publication of the updated award texts for the 2023–24 program year.

Signatories signing the new agreement between mdw and Fulbright Austria: (left to right) Johannes Meissl, vice rector for international affairs at mdw, and Barbara Weitgruber, 2022 chair of Fulbright Austria's board