Discover Vienna with all your Senses
What is the smell of Ottakring? Why does the Neubau district feel cooler than Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus? Where is linguistic diversity (in)visible? What is the point of urban art? From July to September 2024, the Rudolphina will join researchers from the University of Vienna on various routes through the city. They will share exciting research stories and their personal "Vienna in summer" tips. In each article, we highlight opportunities to get involved and invite you to take a walk through the city by downloading our suggested route as a GPS track. Discover and explore the city with us - this summer you're sure to reach your 10,000 steps per day target!
During the semester break, Rudolphina goes on tour: this year we join scientists on a summer city trip through Vienna and get to know the city with all our senses.
More about the Summer City Trip
In June, we cycled into the Danube floodplains and discovered human traces (in German).
In July, we will explore Vienna's (in)visible linguistic diversity and will join a Climate Walk to find out how our city and its people deal with heat islands.
In August, we will find out how so-called "neighbourhood oases" affect our well-being and hear the latest from space research on our podcast while stargazing (in German). Finally, we will immerse ourselves in the world of odours and find out what we can smell on our city trip.
Summer highlights in the events calendar
Numerous events and formats will let you experience the science summer in Vienna. The graduation ceremony on Saturday 20 July marked the end of two weeks of children's university. But there is more to come: the children's university goes on tour through Vienna's parks – Simmering via Favoriten to Donaustadt! And because you cannot do without water in a hot summer, two dates will take place at the Wiener Wasser water tower. Any child can take part, without registration and of course free of charge.
The Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna offers many shady spots to cool off in the hot summer season as well as special tours allowing you to explore the plant world in the green oasis in the third district. Native plants and their exotic relatives, species protection, fungi and more are part of the programme at the Botanical Garden. You can find an overview of the events here.
Summer might be the best time to lend research a hand. In citizen science projects, citizens and researchers investigate exciting research topics together, for example to study the wildlife on the Vienna Central Cemetery. Find out more about the citizen science projects at the University of Vienna – and participate now (in German).
Road trip through science: tips for excursions in Austria
Rudolphina also has tips for excursions to the world of science for all those who prefer to leave the city in the warm summer months: Last summer, we went on a road trip across Austria. First stop: Lake Lunzer See. Here, you can visit the third-oldest ecological research station in the world. At Lake Neusiedl, you can also breathe in the scent of the lake, go swimming and gain an insight into ecosystem research (in German). We continue our journey to the picturesque Almtal valley: At the Konrad Lorenz Research Center, researchers study the behaviour of a famous flock of greylag geese and other bird species. Fascinating animal research also awaits you at the Haidlhof research station (in German). Animal lovers can travel on straight away: to the Landskron Monkey Mountain, where researchers work with AI to study Japanese macaques. And to round things off, we recommend a trip to the Western parts of the Vienna Woods – to gaze at the stars at the Leopold Figl Observatory (in German).
Overseas calling: the University of Vienna around the globe
If wanderlust still takes you over this summer, a trip to Costa Rica might be the solution: Here, near the Pacific coast in the Puntarenas Province, the tropical field station in La Gamba of the University of Vienna awaits you. In the Regenwald der Österreicher (rainforest of the Austrians), the conditions are perfect for combining nature conservation and species preservation: This lowland rainforest is one of the most species-rich rainforests of Central America. We will explore more overseas branches of the University when the motto is again: Rudolphina on tour.