New name, same strong values
What used to be the FH St. Pölten is now USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten
“Since our foundation in 1996, we have established ourselves as a higher education institution with strong growth and a forward-looking mindset. We stand for innovative teaching, impactful applied research, and – as the leading institution in the European University Alliance E³UDRES² – for Europeanness in action. The high demand for the programmes we offer attests to our institution’s quality and the people’s confidence in it. We set great store by student-centred teaching, and we continually develop our programmes further in line with demographic developments and the digital transformation. Both in teaching and in research, our focus is on future topics such as artificial intelligence, IT security, media and digital technologies, healthcare, sustainable mobility, and social work”, says USTP CEO Johann Haag.
Impact beyond the Region
“The world is facing many challenges, and so is our country. Many answers to questions of the present and future lie in the realm of science, which is why we continuously expand research, development, and teaching. This helps young people to get a good education in Lower Austria, and it also helps our economy to achieve added value. Our new name USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten highlights this and shows what we do here: Put research and science into practice and find innovative solutions for society and for our economy. The future is in the making here!” explains Stephen Pernkopf, Vice Governor of Lower Austria, who is responsible for the province’s science sector.
Matthias Stadler, Mayor of St. Pölten: “With its forward-looking study programmes and application-oriented research, USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten has become a central educational institution with impact beyond the limits of our city. It also maintains extensive international networks and is recognised worldwide: As the leading institution in a European University Alliance, USTP holds a pioneering role in actively shaping our education landscape. The most recent award as the higher education institution with the best ‘Quality of Student Life’ worldwide impressively underscores the high quality of education, research, and infrastructure offered here. The rebranding now affords the chance to express the diversity and complexity of the USTP’s many tasks even better in future.”
Growing Internationalisation
USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten is active in an increasingly international environment. USTP is the only university of applied sciences in Austria to coordinate a European University Alliance: E3UDRES2 connects over 100,000 students and more than 10,000 staff members at nine higher education institutions throughout Europe.
“Our alliance is seen as a best practice example because it contributes to strengthening the European higher education, research, and innovation area. We are living in a rapidly changing higher education landscape. The competition is becoming increasingly international. Therefore, close cooperation across Europe is not an end in itself, but creates added value. This is to the benefit of our students, our teachers and researchers, but also our regional partners in business, administration, politics, and society. International and intercultural competencies are important success factors today: They are skills for the future”, explains USTP CEO Hannes Raffaseder.
Innovative and Impactful Research
At USTP, scientists conduct research in six institutes and multiple centres, with interdisciplinary research enjoying special importance. Research revenues were almost doubled these past few years – clear evidence of the projects’ relevance and quality. For 2025, USTP expects research revenues in the amount of approximately EUR 7 million.
“Our application-oriented research contributes decisively to the further development of our location: Together with our partners, we develop innovative solutions to real-world challenges and promote exchange between science, businesses, and society. This creates impulses that reach far beyond our region and advance sustainable development”, adds Raffaseder.
About the New Brand
“In a multistage brand development process together with the agency Brainds, we honed our values and positions in exchange with different stakeholder groups. In this context, it was important to us to showcase our strengths in the most authentic way possible. Our new logo is the visual representation of our position: It symbolises an open space for development and the connection between disciplines as well as between teaching and research. In addition, it conveys trust and closeness. The flowing design language reflects our conviction that learning and research need to remain dynamic in order to actively meet the challenges of a changing world”, says Raffaseder.
