New edition of the children’s and youth universities: Submissions to the OeAD are possible until 6 December 2021.

In 2022 the Ministry of Science will support children's and youth universities with approximately 1.2 million euros.

Children’s and youth universities have been funded by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) since 2004. The call for proposals for 2022 has started and 1.2 million euros are available for 2022. The funding programme is coordinated by Austria’s education agency OeAD on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF). The minister of science, Heinz Faßmann, emphasises: “We are proud of Austria’s pioneering role in children's and youth universities. The range of courses offered across all federal provinces is growing steadily and with it the participation of children and young people. Thus the children’s and youth universities contribute essentially to achieving the overarching goal of getting even the youngest excited about science and research and promoting the next generation of academics.”
Each application will be reviewed by a jury of external experts in the fields of science education, cultural education, children’s and youth research, didactics and citizen science. Diversity and inclusion are the main selection criteria. The courses offered by the children’s and youth universities are intended to counteract role stereotypes and reach children and young people from different segments of the population. The aim is to address, among others, more children and young people from socio-economically disadvantaged families, with migration backgrounds, with disabilities and in peripheral areas. Another focus is on sustainable development with the aim of imparting knowledge to children and young people about topics such as digitisation, climate education, health education and resilience research.
Moreover, extension modules for “holiday care with a scientific claim” will be funded. They offer children and young people not only insights into research and science but also a full-day week-long programme filled with fun and games. The extension modules enable the programme managers to build thematically on the offers of the children’s and youth universities and to deal with the topics in greater depth for a week.
With the new call for proposals the OeAD’s managing director Jakob Calice counts on a further, lower-threshold expansion of the offer: “We are convinced that there will be a varied programme for children and young people at Austrian universities and research institutions in 2022 again. We hope for even more projects in rural areas and for mobile offers. This will allow us to enthuse target groups for science and research that have not yet been reached or hardly reached so far.”
In the summer of 2021 children and young people enthusiastically took advantage of the opportunity to get a taste of university life
More than 33,600 children and young people took part in the courses offered by the children's and youth universities in 2021 despite covid-related restrictions. This confirms the great demand for this initiative. By the end of September 2021 more than 2,000 courses had been held at the 18 children's and youth universities: 1,820 individual courses as well as 189 full-day courses and an additional 18 full-week courses. Besides face-to-face teaching there were and still are opportunities to immerse oneself in the world of science and research online. So far almost 18,000 children and young people – some of them with their families – have taken part in the online courses. Currently children and young people still have the opportunity to get a taste of university life at some institutions.
134 weeks of holiday care
Moreover, twelve extension modules for “holiday care with a scientific claim” were offered between 5 July and 10 September 2021. Thus more than 134 weeks of holiday care were offered for a further 2,150 participants.
To the call for proposals 2022
 
 
Enquiries and Contact:
 OeAD – Agency for Education and Internationalisation
 Mag. Ursula Hilmar
 +43 1 53408-270
 presse@oead.at
 www.oead.at
 
 Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research
 Mag. Debora Knob 
 +43 1 53120-5026
 debora.knob@bmbwf.gv.at
 www.bmbwf.gv.at