The people on the picture shown are from left to right: Jakob Calice (Managing Director OeAD), Barbara Weitgruber (Chairwoman Strategy Advisory Board OeAD, BMBWF), Federal Minister Heinz Faßmann (BMBWF), Elmar Pichl (Chairman Supervisory Board OeAD, BMBWF).
Photo credit: OeAD/APA-Fotoservice/Rastegar

Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation - OeAD celebrated its 60^th anniversary this November. Founded in 1961, the agency has provided foreign students with support and assistance to ensure a successful completion of their studies. With internationalisation as one of its goals, OeAD has promoted cooperation between Austrian higher education institutions and their counterparts in Europe and beyond. OeAD is one of the main drivers behind international student mobility and has been the national agency, leading the Erasmus+ programme in Austria since 2021, Besides the opportunities made possible by Erasmus+, OeAD also offers a number of scholarships for international students and researchers: in 2019, 1700 students were awarded scholarships by the agency.

OeAD promotes internationalisation and mobility in all sectors of education, from pre-school education to school education, vocational education and training, higher education and adult education. The agency is an important link between education and society in Austria, through the promotion of cultural education, science education and digital learning at schools. Furthermore, OeAD is responsible for the development of education tools, such as the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), Ö-Cert and the TOEFL test.

More information here (in German).