Here’s the pattern worth understanding before anything else: OeAD, Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation, doesn’t run one scholarship — it runs a portfolio, and most of that portfolio is built for a different kind of applicant than the “I want a fully funded bachelor’s or master’s degree” reader this series usually addresses. Ernst Mach Grant, Worldwide — the flagship, most widely advertised program — funds research stays of 1 to 9 months, not full degrees. If you’re looking for degree-length funding specifically, only a narrower slice of what follows actually applies.

What OeAD Actually Funds

Ernst Mach Grant, Worldwide
A monthly stipend of roughly €1,300 for research stays of 1 to 9 months at Austrian institutions, open to postgraduates and postdoctoral researchers from any country except Austria.
🔗 oead.at/en/study-research-teaching/overview-grants-and-scholarships/ernst-mach-grant
Worth being precise about this one: it’s a research stay, not a degree program, and applicants must already hold a postgraduate qualification completed outside Austria — not a route for someone starting a bachelor’s or master’s from scratch.

Ernst Mach Grant – ASEA-UNINET
A genuine 36-month PhD route, alongside shorter 4–6 month postdoctoral and 9-month Music Practice grants, funded by Austria’s Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research.
🔗 oead.at
This is the one exception in the Ernst Mach family that funds a full degree — but eligibility is restricted specifically to citizens of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, so it won’t apply outside those five countries.

Franz Werfel Fellowship
Support for teachers of German language and Austrian literature specifically.
🔗 oead.at
A niche but genuine option if your field is specifically German-language teaching or Austrian literary studies — not a general-purpose scholarship.

Richard Plaschka Fellowship
Funding for historians pursuing research connected to Austrian or Central European history.
🔗 oead.at
Similarly field-specific — worth knowing about if history is your area, otherwise not relevant to most applicants.

What Individual Universities Offer

University of Vienna — English Proficiency Exemption Policy
No direct cash award here, but a genuinely useful published policy: applicants who completed their prior education at an English-medium institution can be exempt from submitting IELTS or an equivalent test.
🔗 univie.ac.at
Worth knowing that this exemption’s exact application varies by the country you studied in — the university’s own guidance notes this directly, so confirm your specific case rather than assuming a blanket rule.

University of Vienna — Erasmus Mundus Master’s in Global Studies (EMGS)
A partial tuition fee waiver through the Erasmus Mundus framework, hosted partly at the University of Vienna as one of several partner institutions.
🔗 univie.ac.at
As with other Erasmus Mundus programs in this series, English-medium prior education can exempt you from a standalone test — check the specific consortium’s current terms.

TU Wien — Helmut Veith Stipend
A stipend specifically for motivated female students entering or currently enrolled in one of TU Wien’s English-language master’s programs.
🔗 informatics.tuwien.ac.at/study-services/scholarships
Important distinction from TU Wien’s other listed scholarships: most of TU Wien’s merit awards (under Austria’s Student Support Act) are legally restricted to Austrian citizens, EEA citizens, or long-term Austrian residents — the Helmut Veith Stipend is one of the few genuinely open to a broader international pool, specifically tied to its English-taught programs.

University of Vienna Summer/Winter Schools Scholarships
Tuition waivers for participants in short, intensive academic programs held in English, primarily for master’s and PhD-level participants.
🔗 international.univie.ac.at/en/summer-and-winter-schools
Not a full-degree scholarship, but a genuine, low-barrier way to experience Austrian academic life in English before committing to a full program elsewhere.

The EU-Wide Route

Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees (EMJMD)
€1,400/month stipend, tuition, and travel allowance for joint master’s degrees delivered across 2+ European countries, several including Austrian partner universities beyond the Global Studies program above.
🔗 eacea.ec.europa.eu/scholarships/erasmus-mundus-catalogue_en
This remains the single most reliable route to a genuinely full-degree, broadly-open scholarship involving Austria for most nationalities — check the catalogue for which specific consortia include an Austrian partner.

Being Honest About What’s Missing

If you were expecting a WU Vienna or Graz University of Technology entry here with a clear, verified, broadly-open scholarship, that’s a fair thing to have expected — this series has found one at nearly every other country. For Austria specifically, the genuine, verifiable picture for non-EEA international degree-seekers is narrower: most Austrian public universities charge relatively low tuition to begin with (often around €800–1,500 per semester for non-EU students), and lean on that affordability rather than large scholarship funds, in a way that’s structurally different from countries running dedicated tuition-waiver programs.

What This Means Practically

If your goal is a research stay or postdoctoral period, OeAD’s Ernst Mach family is genuinely strong and worth pursuing directly. If your goal is a full bachelor’s or master’s degree as a non-EEA applicant, your most realistic routes are Erasmus Mundus (if a relevant joint program exists), TU Wien’s Helmut Veith Stipend (if you’re a woman entering an English-taught program there), or simply budgeting for Austria’s comparatively low tuition directly rather than counting on a scholarship to cover it.

Where the English Question Actually Sits

Austria’s public universities generally require German for German-taught programs (naturally, IELTS is irrelevant there) and IELTS, TOEFL, or an MOI-style exemption for English-taught master’s programs — University of Vienna’s own published policy on this is a useful reference point, since it explicitly discusses country-dependent exemptions for prior English-medium education.

Timing and the Costs That Remain

Ernst Mach Grant, Worldwide applications for 2027/28 open in mid-November 2026 and close December 1, 2026 — an unusually tight, early window. ASEA-UNINET’s deadline runs to March 1, 2027. University-level scholarships and admissions generally follow each institution’s own calendar.

Whichever route applies to you, budget for Austria’s residence permit financial-proof requirement and mandatory health insurance — neither is absorbed by most of what’s listed here, and a service like Wise is worth using to move remaining funds without a heavy bank markup.

Two Honest Questions

Is it true Austria barely has scholarships for international students?
Not exactly — it’s more accurate to say Austria’s style of support differs from many neighboring countries. Rather than large tuition-waiver programs, it combines relatively low baseline tuition with narrower, more targeted funding (research stays, specific nationalities, specific fields) rather than one broad, universally accessible scholarship.

Does Austria’s residence permit process check my English separately?
No — as with every other country in this series, your university has already settled that question during admission. The residence permit process focuses on your acceptance, financial proof, and insurance.

Before You Apply

  • Be clear with yourself about whether you’re pursuing a research stay (OeAD’s strength) or a full degree (a narrower set of options)
  • Check University of Vienna’s English Proficiency Qualifications page directly if you’re relying on prior English-medium education as your proof
  • Confirm whether a TU Wien scholarship you’re eyeing is actually open to your citizenship status, since most require Austrian/EEA status or long-term residency
  • Look at Erasmus Mundus first if a full-degree, broadly-open scholarship is your priority
  • Budget realistically for Austria’s comparatively low tuition directly, rather than assuming a scholarship will appear to cover it
  • Re-verify every deadline and eligibility detail directly on OeAD’s or the university’s current page — these change year to year
Scholarships Without IELTS