The main building of the university is ideally located on the Ringstrasse, a circular road around the old town of Vienna. UW is spread over 60 different locations in the historical centre of the town and its vicinity. Approximately 63,000 students from 130 countries are currently enrolled at UW in one or more of the 130 Bachelor, Master or Doctoral programmes offered.

The University of Vienna boasts research and educational disciplines, ranging from jurisprudence, theology, economics, computer science, to humanities, social and natural sciences. UW also participates in the Socrates/Erasmus programme (European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) and is a member of UNICA, which is a network of more than 50 universities from the capitals of Europe. UW traditionally has strong international relations in research and teaching, which is continuously expanding.The 5,400 members of the teaching and research staff are highly trained in the university’s subjects of Protestant and Catholic Theology, Law, Business, Computer Science, Economics and Statistics, Historical, Philological and Cultural Studies, Psychology, Philosophy and Educational Sciences, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy, Translation Studies, Physics, Chemistry, Life Sciences, Sports Sciences and Molecular Biology. UW has established Erasmus partnerships with 311 of 331 European partner universities, featuring more than 10,000 courses each year.

The University of Vienna is proud of having been the home of Nobel Prize laureates, including Otologist Bárány. After obtaining his doctorate in Medicine in 1900, árány began work at the Vienna Ear Clinic, and won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1914. In 1917, he was appointed professor of Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders in Uppsala. Fischer also won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1930. was respected for his research on haemoglobin and chlorophyll. Immunologist Karl Landsteiner was also awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930 for Medicine. After graduated in 1891, he worked in the First Surgical Clinic, then became an assistant at the Institute of Hygiene. In 1897, moved to the Department of Pathological Anatomy.

Since 2001, UW and the Institute Vienna Circle has held an annual two-week summer programme dedicated to current issues in natural and social sciences, including their philosophy and history. The programme is mostly directed toward graduate students and junior researchers in fields related to the annual topic. The broad spectrum of scientific fields make the University of Vienna one of the most significant research institutions in Austria. A key factor behind the achievements of UW in the research sector is its 5,400 employed scientists.