The Faculty of Social Sciences is one of currently 15 faculties and five centers of the University of Vienna. It engages in both research and teaching, which are considered inseparable constituents of higher education. The Faculty is a place of tertiary and continuing education, giving students the opportunity to specialise in a wide range of disciplines and thematic areas. Engaging in analyses of the structures and problems of contemporary societies is key to research at the Faculty.

The Faculty’s research contributes significantly to finding answers to academic questions of great social relevance, and thus to fulfilling the social function and responsibility of both the University and science in general. To this end, the Faculty engages in well-established intra- and interdisciplinary research areas as well as innovative multidisciplinary research, cooperating across different subjects within the Faculty, as well as with other faculties and international, national and local research institutions. Pursuing critical reflection on the structure and problems of present-day society is among the guiding principles of its research activities.