Medical University of Innsbruck

The Medical University of Innsbruck is a public university in Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol. It is the medical school for western Austria, and it sits in the same city as the University of Innsbruck, from which it was split off. The Wikipedia entry calls it the most important medical research and training facility in western Austria and the home university of many Tyroleans, South Tyroleans and students from Vorarlberg.

Medicine in Innsbruck has a long history. The first hospital was founded in the nearby silver-mining city of Schwaz in 1307, and a medical faculty was part of the university set up by Emperor Leopold I in 1669. For centuries the faculty was one of the four historical faculties of the Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck. Under the University Act of 2002 it became a university in its own right in 2004. The institution keeps ceremonial objects from the old University of Olomouc, including a silver and gold-plated mace from around 1588 and a rector's chain made between 1566 and 1573.

The national register lists the institution in the university category as a public university with its seat in Innsbruck. It records eight programmes of all kinds and languages, three of them taught in English: one Master's degree and two PhD or doctorate programmes. The subjects taught are biomedical science and pharmacy.

For an international student, the practical points are straightforward. You apply directly to the Medical University of Innsbruck, which sets its own application period and its own entrance procedure, so check its website early. Students from outside the EU and EEA need a Residence Permit for Students. At public universities, EU, EEA and Swiss students pay no tuition within the standard duration of study plus two semesters, while most other students pay a per-semester fee. Every student also pays the student union fee.

This is a focused medical university rather than a broad one, so the choice of English-taught degrees is small. If you want biomedical science or pharmacy at doctoral or master's level in the Alps, it is worth a close look.