Austria is Heaven For Students!!

Austria is the heaven for the student. Presently students in Pakistan have very limited information about Austria in general and about their educational system in particular. One reason why Austrian Universities are not very well known is because Austrians have not done the ‘marketing’ of their Universities and their educational system as many other countries do. This website is an effort to answer all relevant questions about life and education in Austria. It will help the students in two ways. First, those students who have received a scholarship for studies in Austria would be better prepared. Secondly, those students who are interested in pursuing education in Austria will be able to make an informed decision. Furthermore, this website will also specially help those scholars who are coming to Austria through the Higher Education Commission scholarship program.
Some of you may think ‘Why Austria’? Why not go to USA, England, China or Australia. That’s a good question.
• The quality of education is really good. The Austrian Universities offer a world class environment and facilities to their students and are comparable to any other European Universities. At the PhD level, they offer the most important “freedom of thought” and “self-finalised time lines” for the scholars to give them the required expertise and confidence.
• The opportunity to work on collaborative projects on a Europe wide level, gives scholars the chance to widen their horizons and increase their productivity, besides the necessary skills of correspondence and persuasion.
• Education is FREE. People coming from developing countries do not have to pay the EURO 750/- per semester fee. The policy, however varies from University to University so it is important to check with the University where you are interested in studying.
• Cost of living is comparatively cheaper. Although in Vienna it may be expensive as it’s the capital city.
• Good health insurance system. It only costs EURO 22/- per month which even includes the whole family. Up to some extent Dental treatment is also included in this price. If you don’t think it’s a bargain then compare it to approx. US $400/ month that you will have to pay to get similar coverage excluding dental treatment.
• You get the opportunity to learn German language. The 10th most spoken language in the world which apart from Germany and Austria is spoken in Belgium, Bolivia, Czech Rep., Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Paraguay, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland. Almost 10% of the books are published in this language. Last but not least is that you open a big job market for yourself.
• You have Pakistani scholars in almost all the cities of Austria who can help you in settling down.
Language
In our opinion there is no other option but to learn Deutsch (German language). German language is every where, in your Univ., in shops, in restaurants, in offices, and any place you can dream off. Outside your Univ. hardly anyone will speak English with you. Vienna is one exception where lot of people speak english, this is because its an international city with a big tourism industry. So if you plan to live in Austria for few years, then you should plan to learn German. Don’t take this as a hurdle, take it as an opportunity to learn another language. After all it’s the 10th most widely spoken language. And you open a big job market for yourself as well. So Why Not!!
Also please note that you may have to take courses during your PhD program which are in German language. Yes its True. Many of us have done it or are going through this experience. As you would expect its not easy, considering the fact that we were the first badge that came to Austria so HEC and we didn’t had any idea about this issue.
If, however, you think that you cannot (or do not want to) learn German language because of whatever reason (although we will not recommend it), chances are that you can still survive. We have few friends who did not learn German at all but they are still Alive. Certainly they face lot of difficulties and at times they are dependent on others but still…. Important point is that these friends did not have to take any PhD related course in German.
We will suggest that before coming to Austria, you should take an intensive German language course in Pakistan and then another intensive course here in Austria. The one in Pakistan would help you understand the basics and the grammar whereas the latter would get you started in speaking Deutsch.
You will have to pay the fee for German Courses out of your pocket (means from your stipend). HEC or OeAD do not pay you any extra money for this.
Living Costs
Although living costs vary from person to person but we will give you a rough idea for a person who is neither a kangoos (miser) nor a Musrif (spender). In the Accommodation section we have already discussed the rent so take out that much money from your budget. Then take out health insurance costs. The monthly expenditure for groceries (food stuff and households) for a single person is between €125 and €150 where as for a married person with 2 kids its around €250 and €300. If you need internet at home, the broadband connection (256 Kbps) starts from €20 per month. The dial up is around 1 cent a minute for students. If you want to eat outside, because your cooking is pathetic or you are too lazy to cook then the famous Doener Kebab is around €2.5 and is sufficient for one time meal. This Kebab is available almost every where in Austria (or at least in the big cities). Add up cost of mobile phone around €15 and transportation around €25 per month. Add what you have to send back home and for little bit of shopping.
Keeping Your Own Car:
The car itself is not expensive. You can get a nice car in approx. €2000 to €3000 (although some people buy cards for €100 as well, but then it comes with its own problems). If you want to keep a car then add another €55 for the insurance and about €50 for the fuel. Remember, the idea of expenditure is again based on assuming a moderate person. You should also keep some money for the maintenance of the car.
Mobile Phone
It’s not that easy to get a mobile phone connection as it is in Pakistan. Getting a prepaid connection is easy, but people usually prefer the post paid connection since you get a ‘cool’ looking mobile phone for free or almost free. However, companies have different criteria for giving a postpaid connection. Their conservative behavior is due to people who buy connections, get a mobile phones and then run away. So to safeguard themselves against such people they look for customers who have at least six months visa, a credit card, can pay some security fee etc.
There are few famous mobile phone companies in Austria viz. T-mobile, One, A-1, 3, and Tele-ring. After using the mobile phone for some time we have realized that the best options is to have all of your friends on the same network, only then it’s cheap. That is why almost all scholars in one city tend to use the services from same company. To give you a rough idea, it costs around 1 cent a minute (or completely free) when you talk to some one on the same network compared to 20 cents (or more) when you call someone at another network.
A pool conducted in Jan 2005 gave the following statistics about the usage of mobile phone among our Scholars.
Company Users
A-1 Post Paid 3.23%
T-mobile Post Paid 3.23%
T-mobile Pre Paid 9.68%
One Post Paid 32.26%
One Pre Paid 3.23%
Tele Ring Post Paid 25.81%
Tele Ring Pre Paid 3.23%
We will suggest that before buying a mobile phone, you should ask the scholars in your city about which company is better in a particular city or province.
Television and Radio License:
Bad news is that there is a licensing fee for TV and Radio. Worse is that the cost is around 20 Euros per month!!! Good news is that you can get an exemption for being a student. The organization that deals with licensing fees is Gebuehren Info Services (GIS)( http://www.orf-gis.at/index.php ). For claiming an exemption you should fill up a form (available from GIS office), attach your Meldezettel (including those of family members if any), and your Income certificate (provided by OeAD). They will then, hopefully, waive off your license fee. If you are living in a student hostel then check with the administration, there is a possibility that they have already paid for all the students so you do not have to worry about it.
Now if you think that ‘Who will come to my place so why worry?’ then you are mistaken. They do visit houses and will fine you if you do not have the license, Ignorance of Law is certainly not an Excuse. So better do it as soon as possible.
Family Card:
In German language they call it FamilienPass. You can get it for free and with this card you can get discounts on traveling and at some tourism spots like parks and museums. For e.g. in Graz where one hour ticket costs €1.70 would cost €0.90 with the family card. Same should be the case for other provinces. You can find information about obtaining family card from your city at this link. One important thing is that you need to have at least one kid with you to avail the benefits of family card.
You can also buy Family Card for the Austrian Train System (OeBB http://www.oebb.at). You have to buy the annual card for approximately €20 (cost may vary from province to province). With the family card the ticket, in most of the cases, will cost 50% less then the actual cost. So you can have great savings while traveling with your family. However, keep in mind that you must have at least one kid with you for getting the OeBB Family Card benefits. Scholars without families have the option of buying Vorteils card from the railway station. This card costs around 100 Euros and offers approx. 50% reduction on fares.
Heating and Electricity Charges:
For those of you who are living with families or living in private accommodation Achtung. You have to be careful about both these charges. If you are cooking ‘Salan’ regularly and making ‘Rooti’ twice a day every day then the electricity bill may be well above your expectations. It can be up to 70 Euros per month so its wise to use some preventive measures for e.g. switching the geyser off when its not being used, don’t use the maximum level on the cooking range, use energy savers instead of bulbs etc.
Regarding Heizung (Heating), this cost may be included in your rent but that is just an approximation based on some past experience. If you are using more heating (by increasing the flow of hot liquid using the valve) then you may have to pay extra at the end of year. Some of our friends had to pay around 400 Euros extra at the end of year. So be careful. Our advise is to wear worm clothes inside the house and keep the heating to an acceptable limit. It is a good idea to buy a room thermometer for keeping an eye on the temperature. If you want to move around in the house in ‘Banayan’ while outside temperature is in minus then you will have to pay for this extra ‘heat’ at the end of the year.
Groceries:
The cost for chicken varies between 1.5 to 3.0/kg. Why is there such a big difference, its a long discussion! ask the seniors about it. Beef is around 3.5/kg. Mutton is around 6/kg.
You can buy almost all kind of vegetables.
Luckily almost all kind of Daals (Lintels) are also available. If you are living in Vienna then there are plenty of shops selling Pakistani groceries including spices, rice, Achar, lintels etc. However, in other cities you can’t get every thing but basic things are still manageable.
Islamic Resources in Austria
Alhamdulillah there are plenty of mosques in almost every big city. Its mainly because of the big number of Turkish brothers. However there is a also considerable Arab population and you will find mosques under the Arab administration as well. To give you an idea, we have 5 mosques in a small city like Graz. Although it may not be convenient to attend mosque for five daily prayers but Friday prayers (Juma) can easily be managed.
Halal Food
Yes its available. You can get Halal chicken, beef and mutton. Though mutton is not that easy to find and its difficult to find goat meat. Most probably you will have to eat sheep if you like mutton whether or not you like the smell of it. Where do you get it? In shops associated with mosques and at Turkish shops. But be careful about Halal meat, not all the meat sold at shops owned by Muslims is Halal. It would be wise to do some investigation before buying it. Some shopkeepers are more interested in selling their stuff, so you may not get the correct statement. Don’t just rely on him being a Muslim, because you will see Muslims selling Alcohol as well, so don’t make this a yard stick to buy all kind of meat.
Azan
One thing we miss a lot in West is the sweet sound of Azan. The only place you can hear Azan is inside the mosque. For months and years, you do not hear Azan when you are sitting at home or moving outside. However, there is one substitute (up to some extent). You can download the Azan software and install it on your computer. Not only that it tells you the prayer timings but also calls Azan for every prayer. So you can hear Azan whether you are in your office or in house.

List of Austrian Universities
Graz University of Technology
Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mozarteum
Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Graz
Johannes Kepler University of Linz
Karl Franzens University
Montanuniversität Leoben
Technikum Vorarlberg
Universität für Bodenkultur
University of Art and Industrial Design
University of Economics, Vienna
University of Innsbruck
University of Klagenfurt
University of Salzburg
University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
University of Vienna
Vienna University of Technology
General Document Requirements for Austrian Universities
1. Matriculation Photo Copy (Attested By Board of Intermediate)
2. Intermediate Photo Copy (Attested By Board of Intermediate)
3. Bachelors Degree Photo Copy (Attested By HEC)
4. Bachelors Details Mark Sheet Photo Copy if Degree not received (Attested by HEC). If you have both things attest both and attach. But DMS is necessary
5. CV (Tabular CV is best)
8. IELTS or TOFEL Photo Copy (optional).
9. German Proficiency Certificate (optional For Pakistani Students)
Additionally
1. Get the authentication by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan
2. Get the authenticity of your documents checked by the Austrian embassy in Islamabad
3. Get the authentication by the Austrian embassy in Islamabad.
Translations
Documents issued in a language other than German or English require to be translated by a court certified translator. Afterwards translations have to be authenticated like certificates and documents.
Procedure:
1. Get the original certificate / document (or copy of it) authenticated by the Austrian embassy in Islamabad
2. Get the authenticated certificate / document translated by a court certified translator
3. Then get the translation authenticated by the Austrian embassy in Islamabad
Translations made in Austria by a court certified translator require no further authentication in order to be acknowledged in Austria.