On Track for International Success
USTP Receives Two Top-Level Awards
From left to right: Jakob Calice (OeAD Managing Director), Elmar Pichl (Section Manager BMFWF), Daniela Lohner (Head of International Office, USTP), Hannes Raffaseder (USTP CEO), Patrick Lobis (Head of the European Commission’s Austrian Representation), Ernst Gesslbauer (Director for the Programmes Erasmus+ and ESK).
USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten was recently honoured with the Erasmus+ and ESK Award. The OeAD, Austria’s National Agency for the Erasmus+ programme, and the European Solidarity Corps (ESC; German: ESK) use this recognition to honour organisations and persons that implement the programme in a particularly successful manner and demonstrate high quality and commitment in doing so. Moreover, USTP recently won third place in the Internationalisation Award of the Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research (BMFWF) and the OeAD in the category “Internationalisation of the Curriculum” for the development of the Joint Master programme “Gamified Reality Applications for Real-world Challenges and Experiences (GRACE)”.
Internationalisation
For USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten, internationalisation is anchored as a central strategic goal to position itself as an internationally renowned higher education institution. Mobility programmes play an essential role in this regard: They facilitate international experiences, promote academic exchange, strengthen partnerships, and contribute to the quality and further development of teaching and research. As the coordinator of the European University Alliance E³UDRES², USTP further develops its range of study programmes in a way that promotes international perspectives and appeals to students from various higher education areas.
Erasmus+ and ESK Award for Higher Education
The Erasmus+ and ESK Award for higher education given away by the OeAD and the European Solidarity Corps confirms USTP’s successful approach: With international long- and short-term mobilities, hands-on teaching methods, the promotion of transversal competencies, and systematic integration offers as well as the annual International Week, USTP sets standards in the internationalisation of studying and teaching.
“Winning the Erasmus+ and ESK Award 2025 in the category ‘Higher Education’ is a wonderful recognition for our work and achievements. It is our objective to enable all students and staff members of USTP to participate in international mobility formats in order to acquire professionally relevant, linguistic, and intercultural competencies. The Erasmus programme is our main pillar for funding both short- and long-term mobilities for studying and/or internships abroad as well as for teaching and training mobilities. At the same time, the programme issues guidelines regarding quality. It is essential for achieving our internationalisation targets, also and especially in the context of our European University Alliance E³UDRES². We are very happy about this recognition and proud to receive it”, says Daniela Lohner, Head of USTP’s International Office.
Internationalisation Award
Further evidence of USTP’s successful international engagement is the Internationalisation Award received from the Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research and the OeAD.
For its development of the Joint Master programme “Gamified Reality Applications for Real-world Challenges and Experiences (GRACE)”, USTP recently won 3rd place in the category “Measures for the ‘Internationalisation of the Curriculum’ – Internationalisation of Studying and Teaching”.
From left to right: Federal Minister Eva-Maria Holzleitner, Hannes Raffaseder and Johann Haag (CEOs of USTP – University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten, OeAD Managing Director Jakob Calice
Photo credit: OeAD / APA Photo Service / Hetfleisch
What makes this study programme so special: Starting from the autumn of 2026, students can study at three higher education institutions in three countries, thus acquiring a joint diploma (Joint Degree). In this way, they learn to systematically apply the potentials of gamification and virtual realities to solving real-world challenges.
Another Joint Master programme offered at USTP – “Citizen-Centered Digital Health and Social Care” – also provides an opportunity to benefit from the collaboration of multiple higher education institutions and from international networking.
“These special awards attest to our strategy of internationalising studying and teaching and of anchoring mobility programmes as a fixed component of our work in higher education. As a university with a cosmopolitan mindset and the leading institution in the European University Alliance E³UDRES², we set great store by developing study programmes and mobility formats that appeal to students from the regional, national, and international higher education areas alike”, explains USTP CEO Hannes Raffaseder.
Mag. Mag. Daniela Lohner
Head of Service UnitInternational Office Center for Study and Organisation
