The ifk International Research Centre for Cultural Studies is a centre of the University of Art and Design Linz, located in Vienna. Two boards support its work: the International Advisory Board (IAB) and the Executive Board.
In the course of its annual meeting the ifk International Advisory Board (IAB) reviews applications and selects senior and research fellows for the upcoming academic year. The board assists and consults with ifk management in the design and implementation of a distinguished academic program.
University of Basel (Department of Art History)
University of Lübeck (Institute of Medical History and Science Research)
University of Zurich (Department of History)
Bielefeld University and University of Modena-Reggio Emilia (Sociology)
Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig (Media Studies)
University of Tübingen (Slavic Seminar)
University of Münster (Institute for Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology)
University of Postdam and FH Postsdam (Department of Art and Media)
The tasks of the ifk executive board include: advising the ifk rectorate and management, nominating members of the selection committee for the appointment of the institute director, issuing assessments for the appointment of members of the international scientific advisory board (IAB) and quality assurance by way of evaluation of the center's activities.
(former rector of the Karl Franzens University of Graz and member of the board of the "European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education" ENQA since 2004.)
(Professor of Austrian history at the University of Vienna)
(Member of the board of directors at Voestalpine Steel Division)
(Member of the board of directors at the Institute for Computational Perception at Johannes Kepler University Linz, winner of the Wittgenstein Prize 2009, ERC Advanced Grant 2015)
The institutional and programmatic origins of the University of Art and Design Linz (Kunstuniversität) can be traced back to the Linz Art School, founded in 1947, which was awarded college status in 1973 and subsequently became a university in 1998.The founding of the organization was steeped in a conscious cultural and political rejection of the National Socialist era. This stance was particularly characterized by an emphasis on the basic freedoms of art and research, the recognition of modern and contemporary art, and the positioning of the new institute between the poles of free artistic and applied commercial design. These values remain the basis of the fundamental self-perception of the University of Art and Design Linz.
The university has been a legal entity under public law according to the new University Law of 2002 since January 1, 2004, and thus operates fairly autonomously. The University of Art and Design Linz comprises four inter-related institutes: Fine Art and Cultural Studies, Art and Education, Media, and Space and Design. There are also three centers, of which the IFK in Vienna is one. As an art university the University of Art and Design Linz provides small study courses with an entrance examination and intensive supervision. The total enrollment for winter semester 2015/16 was 1,368.
The university council authorizes the development plan, the organizational plan, the drafting of the university performance agreement, and the rules of procedures for the rector’s office. It approves or rejects applications for the position of rector via the senate. Alongside the vice rectors the university council elects the rector from the three candidates selected by the senate and on the basis on the rector’s proposal and approval of the senate.
The rector’s office manages the university and serves as its representative it in the public sphere. The rector’s office of the University of Art and Design Linz currently comprises a full-time rector and four vice rectors.
Alongside the rector’s office and the university council, the senate functions as the management committee of the University of Art and Design Linz. This body comprises representatives of university professors, scientific and artistic non-professorial staff, general university staff, and students.