What is the 1. Abschnitt (1st section)?
On paper, the degree has a minimum study duration of 4 years (8 semesters), which is split into two sections (2+6 semesters). The 1. Abschnitt are simply the classes/ECTS you’re supposed to do during the first year/first two semesters.
What happens if I don’t finish the 1. Abschnitt in two semesters?
Not much:
- for Austrian/EU: if after 4 semesters you still haven’t completed your 1. Abschnitt, you will have to start paying tuition fees (until you complete the 1. Abschnitt, then it goes back to no tuition fees, at least until it also takes you too long to finish the 2. Abschnitt)
- for non-EU: ?
- for everyone: if you don’t get a ZKF grade for 3 semesters the university automatically un-enrolls you, but you can be re-admitted at any time ‘at the discretion of the head of your class’ (basically you can study forever)
Finishing 1. Abschnitt
I studied something else before/I went to an art or design high school (like Grafische).
You can apply for Anrechnung, which allows you to use any course from any university or art/design school (EU or non-EU) you’ve taken before to count as ECTS towards your Angewandte degree (both 1. and 2. Abschnitt). There is no rush to do this in your first semester, but you have to apply for it before the end of your first year of study (i.e. late September). The student reps will hold a session during the second semester for anyone who wants to do an Anrechnung, you can already look at the paperwork and legal information here (form ‘Antrag auf Anerkennung von Prüfungen, anderen Studienleistungen, Tätigkeiten und Qualifikationen‘.
I’ve completed all required credits for 1. Abschnitt, do I have to do anything else? / I’m done with all the credits but the university is charging me a higher tuition fee, why?
In order to formally finish the 1st Abschnitt you need to fill out this form and e-mail it to studien@uni-ak.ac.at. (It is only called “1st diploma examination” for historical reasons, you don’t actually have to do an exam, just e-mailing the form is enough)
2nd Abschnitt
How do I know which courses are good?
The course descriptions on Base are often uninformative and don’t tell you if the courses are actually interesting or useful. It’s a good idea to ask students from higher semesters, or simply ask on our Discord server.
There is also a now mostly outdated collaborative course recommendation document that you can feel free to edit.
What courses will I have to do after 1. Abschnitt?
Once you complete 1. Abschnitt, the curriculum analysis PDF on Base will show you the 2nd Abschnitt courses. Until then you can already see all study subjects and their mandatory ECTS in the Curriculum Medienkunst (p.12, section ‘Zweiter Studienabschnitt – Studienzweig Digitale Kunst’).
How do I know which courses I need for 1. Abschnitt?
Log into Base and go to Progress of Studies > Curriculum Analysis (in top right), open the PDF
The study progress shows the individual ‘study subjects’ that you have to take and how many mandatory ECTS (‘Soll’) you need of each subject. The subjects are grouped into larger ‘curriculum subject’ groups which have their own Soll ECTS.
The first two curriculum subject groups (Zentrales künstlerisches Fach and Künstlerische Methodik und Technologie) are all classes held at DK, basically ZKF+3 courses in the first semester, ZKF+3 courses in the second semester. Note that the actual ‘courses’ that are listed in Base might have the same name as the ‘study subjects’ you see in your curriculum analysis, but often not.
The third curriculum subject group (Wissenschaftlich theoretische und historische Grundlagen) are courses you have to take outside DK.
The ‘curriculum subject’ group Wissenschaftlich theoretische und historische Grundlagen has 8 ECTS, but the ‘study subjects’ inside it only sum up to 2 ECTS?
As long as you have at least 2 ECTS in Medientheorie, the remaining 6 ECTS can be covered by any combination of classes from any of the study subjects.
You can choose to do:
- 8 ECTS just Medientheorie
- 2 ECTS Medientheorie + 6 ECTS Kulturwissenschaften
- 4 ECTS Medientheorie + 4 ECTS Kommunikationstheorie
- 3 ECTS Medientheorie + 3 ECTS Kulturwissenschaften + 2 ECTS Kommunikationstheorie
- …
How do I know which courses I need for 1. Abschnitt?
Log into Base and go to Progress of Studies > Curriculum Analysis (in top right), open the PDF
The study progress shows the individual ‘study subjects’ that you have to take and how many mandatory ECTS (‘Soll’) you need of each subject. The subjects are grouped into larger ‘curriculum subject’ groups which have their own Soll ECTS.
The first two curriculum subject groups (Zentrales künstlerisches Fach and Künstlerische Methodik und Technologie) are all classes held at DK, basically ZKF+3 courses in the first semester, ZKF+3 courses in the second semester. Note that the actual ‘courses’ that are listed in Base might have the same name as the ‘study subjects’ you see in your curriculum analysis, but often not.
The third curriculum subject group (Wissenschaftlich theoretische und historische Grundlagen) are courses you have to take outside DK.
The ‘curriculum subject’ group Wissenschaftlich theoretische und historische Grundlagen has 8 ECTS, but the ‘study subjects’ inside it only sum up to 2 ECTS?
As long as you have at least 2 ECTS in Medientheorie, the remaining 6 ECTS can be covered by any combination of classes from any of the study subjects.
You can choose to do:
- 8 ECTS just Medientheorie
- 2 ECTS Medientheorie + 6 ECTS Kulturwissenschaften
- 4 ECTS Medientheorie + 4 ECTS Kommunikationstheorie
- 3 ECTS Medientheorie + 3 ECTS Kulturwissenschaften + 2 ECTS Kommunikationstheorie
- …
How do I know which courses count as ‘Medientheorie’?
Because the names of the ‘study subjects’ and the courses are not the same, you can’t just search for the course name on Base. Instead, filter the course list by which study subject the courses count towards, like this (fill in from left to right):
Direct link to this search which shows you all courses this academic year that count as Medientheorie.
Which courses should I take to fill the 8 non-DK ECTS of 1. Abschnitt?
On top of the 2 ECTS which have to be from Media Theory, you can choose to do any 6 ECTS from this list of courses. The handout you got from DK at the start of the semester contains some suggestions from this list which have been selected for their relevance for media art and/or how easy they are. If in doubt, just do any 8 ECTS from the DK list.
General note: in practice, it is less work to do two 3 ECTS courses than three 2 ECTS courses.
Why do I have to take [some course with a name that’s not on the curriculum] again?
At the bottom of the course description on Base, click Curriculum Allocation to see which ‘study subject’ from the curriculum that course counts towards. For example Electronic Tinkering 101 – Arduino & DIY fulfills your ECTS for the subject ‘Kunst als System und Prozess I – II’, INTERNET UBER ALLES gives you ECTS for ‘Visualisierungsstrategien I – II’ etc.
Can I take courses which are not necessary for 1. Abschnitt?
Yes you can, but it’s a good idea to prioritize getting all courses for 1. Abschnitt out of the way first.
If you realize that you have time and energy left to take more courses: you can take any course at Angewandte as long as you register for it on Base and the lecturer confirms your registration (courses of other departments will prioritize their own students and only let you in if there are spaces left). Courses at the central workshops are always open to all students, but you usually need to register early to get a spot.
Higher semester (2. Abschnitt) bureaucracy
I completed all ECTS for the 1. Abschnitt, what do I do now?
Gotta fill in a completion of study segment form and e-mail it to Studienabteilung. If you don’t complete this form they might start charging you study fees even though you have done all ECTS for 1. Abschnitt!
Which courses can I use for Gender studies/Law/…?
See How do I know which courses count as …?
Direct links to the Base searches:
I did a course which counts as [Medientheorie/Gender studies/whatever] but on my curriculum analysis the grade is listed under the wrong study subject (such as ‘Wahlfach’)?
Studienabteilung can move (verschieben) the grade to any ‘study subject’ that it is already usable for according to base. Just e-mail studien@uni-ak.ac.at and tell them the course number and which ‘study subject’ you want to have it moved to, they usually take care of it within a day.
I found a course which I think should count as [Medientheorie/Präsentationstechnik/whatever] but Base says that it doesn’t?
If you see another course on Base that you think should count for one of the study subjects that you need to fill, you can apply for that course to be added as an option on Base. You have to fill in Antrag auf zusätzliche Zuordnung with a short reason (which is usually “the content/material of course X is similar to course Y which already counts for this study subject, so X should be usable for that study subject as well”) and e-mail it to the head of Medienkunst StuKo at neuzuordnung@digitalekunst.ac.at
Don’t expect to hear back immediately, it might take a few weeks — if it’s urgent because you need to finish an Abschnitt, best to make that clear in your e-mail, or send a follow-up/reminder straight to the head of Medienkunst StuKo (the current student reps will know who it is)!
IMPORTANT: applying for a zusätzliche Zuordnung is only possible before you receive a grade for that course, so you should apply for the Zuordnung before or while you are taking the course. In the meantime you can always just sign up for the course as a ‘Wahlfach’, if the Antrag is passed you can then have the grade for the course moved to the desired study subject by e-mailing Studienabteilung.
(If you already received the grade it might still be possible to use it for a new study subject: if the same course is running again in a later semester, any student can apply for the zusätzliche Zuordnung which, if it is accepted, will become available to all other students, apparently also retroactively.)
How can I do a guest semester or study abroad?
Studying abroad
Guest semester at other departments in Angewandte
You can apply to do up to two guest semesters at another class/department within Angewandte, which mainly means that you attend their ZKF instead of the DK one and get to use the student studio space and workshops of that class.
Contact the class that you want to be a guest at for details on how to apply (usually they want a portfolio), the application deadline is normally November 30 (for the next summer semester) and April 30 (for the next winter semester).