The challenges of the industry are huge...

Civil aviation enables the fast, affordable and safe transport of goods and people, but accounts for about 4% of man-made global warming. The declared objective is to reduce aviation-related emissions towards zero global warming impact by 2050. Since aircraft have to be lightweight and operating conditions change depending on the flight altitude, different technical solutions are necessary compared to ground-based vehicles. In addition to the substitution of fossil kerosene with so-called drop-in sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), further options for reducing the energy consumption of aircraft are currently in discussion. Examples are electrification, the utilisation of alternative fuels such as hydrogen, the optimisation of aerodynamics, for example by means of advanced flow control, and the more efficient utilisation of lightweight construction potentials. 

... but so are the opportunities!

In order to meet the challenges, the smartest minds are required, in addition to substantial investments in the transformation of the energy industry towards regeneratively generated primary energy, to master the above-mentioned engineering challenges without compromising on the standards achieved in the field of aviation safety. The aviation of the future will be characterised by a greater variety of configurations. Realising new developments with the help of innovative methods, operating procedures, tools and AI are current and future tasks of engineers in industry and research. This requires the courage to choose new paths. The career prospects for enthusiastic young people who are not afraid to break new ground and actively shape the future of aviation are definitely promising!

Study content overview

A cross-faculty and cross-university Master's programme in Aeronautical Engineering is currently in development under the leadership of the Aircraft Systems Research Group at TU Wien. The content of the programme is to teach the tools of aeronautical engineering and engineering science. 

The study programme contains the following key subjects:

• Aircraft Design, Aircraft Systems Engineering, Systems Engineering
• Lightweight design, Composite structures, Finite element methods
• Aerodynamics, Fluid mechanics, Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Propulsion technology (thermal turbomachinery, aviation gearboxes, alternative electric drives)
• Material science
• Innovative manufacturing and production technologies
• Sustainability

The language of the Master's programme is English.

Admission:

Admission to the Master's Programme requires the completion of a relevant Bachelor's programme or another relevant programme of at least the same level of higher education at a recognised domestic or foreign post-secondary educational institution. The following university programmes are eligible (compensation for significant subject-related differences through completion of corresponding courses may be required) :

• Mechanical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering - Economics
• Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
• Technical Physics

Programme duration:

The planned duration of the programme is 4 semesters as a full-time programme (workload 120 ECTS credits).

The Master's programme is scheduled to begin in the winter semester 2025.