Cooperation with China
St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences and Tongji University Launch Cooperation
The Department of Rail Technology and Mobility of the St. Pölten UAS and the Chinese Tongji University have agreed on a comprehensive collaboration. The UAS thus expands its international network and its exchange across borders.
Among other elements, the cooperation includes a summer school at the Tongji University in Shanghai for 13 students of the St. Pölten UAS in 2025. From 2026, a group of Chinese students are to visit Austria for a week as well. Additional cooperations are planned in teaching and research.
Great Opportunity for Students
“I believe this cooperation is a great opportunity for our students to gain international experience, expand their horizon, and in doing so further improve their market prospects”, says Ulrich Puz, Academic Director of the master degree programme Rail Technology and Management of Railway Systems at the St. Pölten UAS.
“The Tongji University values its partnership with the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences. With the support of the Young Envoys scholarship, we will welcome the first group of students and teaching staff from St. Pölten to our institution for a summer school on the topic of digital and green transport infrastructure this September. For the next two years, we are planning to expand the exchange of lecturers and students as well as joint research and teaching. We are also working on a dual degree programme to promote a hands-on international education on both sides of our partnership”, explains Professor Xingyi Zhu from the Tongji University.
“Thanks to the collaboration with the Tongji University, we can extend our network of nearly 170 partner universities by another important cooperation. We are looking forward to working together and are happy with the possibilities thus afforded to our students”, say Johann Haag and Hannes Raffaseder, the two Executive Directors of the St. Pölten UAS.
Cooperation for a Successful Industry
The collaboration between the two higher education institutions affects an economically strong business sector. Both in China and in Austria, the railway is of tremendous importance. For example, Austria is among the biggest exporting nations for railway technology in the world.
Department of Rail Technology and Mobility
Today’s Department of Rail Technology and Mobility at the St. Pölten UAS goes back to the foundation of its first degree programme in 2008. By now, it offers three programmes: Rail Technology and Mobility (bachelor, full-time/part-time), Rail Technology and Management of Railway Systems (master, part-time), and – as of the autumn of 2025 – Rail Vehicle Technology¹ (bachelor, part-time/dual).
The department currently has 54 master degree students and 114 bachelor degree students. All in all, 348 students have graduated from the bachelor, and 248 from the master degree programme to date.
The department conducts research at the Carl Ritter von Ghega Institute for Integrated Mobility Research which is engaged in application-oriented research and development on rail technology and mobility topics. The focus is on the institute’s core competence: its comprehensive knowledge of the railway system. It has three research emphases: the railway system, life cycles of technical systems, and mobility 4.0.
¹ subject to accreditation by AQ Austria
Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Ulrich Puz , MBA
Academic Director Rail Technology and Management of Railway Systems (MA) Deputy Academic Director Rail Technology and Mobility (BA) Campus Co-ordinator European Railway Systems (MA) Department of Rail Technology and Mobility