IT:U Open Day x LNR 2026
Open Day meets Long Night of Research (Lange Nacht der Forschung), two experiences in one.
What’s in it for you?
- Explore study programs from Austria’s first interdisciplinary public university
- Free 1:1 study consultation with our study experts
- LearnLab tours, discover your future classrooms
- 16 interactive research stations
- Career and study guidance
JUMP TO:
IT:U’s Interdisciplinary Study Programs
IT:U OPEN DAY PROGRAM
1️⃣ Austria’s first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary study programs
Discover Austria’s first fully interdisciplinary university by design and its new study programs, built around project-based learning, where you tackle real-world challenges from day one.
- Master’s Program in Interdisciplinary Computing: Explore our first-of-its-kind Master’s program with 4 specializations: Designing Interactions, Digital Earth, Society and Networks, Future Industries, and Digital Humanities, Health and Life Sciences.
- PhD Programs: Discover our doctoral tracks in Computational X and Digital Transformation in Learning, guided by leading researchers.
- Project-Based Learning: See how learning works at IT:U. Meet your learning experts, coaches and experience IT:U’s project-based learning in action.
Not sure which path fits you best? Skip the guesswork.
Book a free 1:1 consultation with our study experts and get answers tailored to you.
2️⃣LearnLabs as your classrooms
Tired of big lecture halls?
Step into your future classrooms: DORO – Data Science Lab, ROB – Robotics Lab, MOMO – Motion and Audio Lab, RITA – Extended Reality Lab, INES – Human-Computer Interaction Lab, HANS – Digital Production Lab, and DESY – Design Lab.
At IT:U, you do not wait until the final semester to get hands-on with technology. You start building, testing, and creating from day one.
📍 Lab tours every 30 minutes, starting at 10:30 AM
3️⃣Experience IT:U up close
Go beyond brochures. Talk to students, researchers, and the people shaping a new kind of university.
- PhD Poster Session: Explore ongoing research projects and talk directly to PhD students about their work
- Master’s Student Experience: Hear firsthand from current students about their projects, learning journey, and life at IT:U
- Working at IT:U: Meet our HR team and discover career opportunities, as well as what it is like to work at IT:U
4️⃣16 interactive research stations × Long Night of Research
Together with the Long Night of Research (Lange Nacht der Forschung), one of Austria’s leading science initiatives, we host 16 interactive research stations. Try things out, think along, and actively participate, from AI and robotics to climate action and cybersecurity. A unique opportunity to experience it all in one day, with selected stations running from 10:00 to 23:00.
How do emotions make cities more livable?
How does your city feel? Data from smartwatches and other devices is combined with environmental measurements to visualize experiences like stress or comfort in urban spaces. This helps make cities more livable and safe.
Get involved:
- Track your own signals with wearables
- Explore real-time emotional maps of your surroundings
How do chatbots support learning at universities?
Discover how chatbots can support your thinking and problem-solving.
Get involved:
- Test the learning agent PIA and receive instant feedback
- Create your own prompts and compare different AI models
How does traffic become safer with autonomous cars?
Experience the city of the future: AI and digital twins make mobility smarter and more sustainable.
Get involved:
- Take a virtual short trip through Linz’s digital twin
- Test assistance functions and share your feedback
Are AI-based customer service systems fair to everyone?
Do AI agents favor customers or companies during returns—and do they follow the rules?
Get involved:
- Interact with an AI customer service agent
- Evaluate decisions and their reasoning
How do new technologies promote essential future skills?
Dive into the future of education: Virtual Reality (VR), project-based learning, and AI are transforming how we learn.
Get involved:
- Experience a VR body-swap and test your communication skills
- Explore exciting educational projects
How does cybersecurity work in practice?
Making security tangible—from checking emails to debunking hacking myths and learning cryptography basics.
Get involved:
- Test your email security
- Debunk hacking myths in a quiz
- Solve simple cryptography challenges
Climate change & energy transition: where do we stand today?
Key metrics for climate neutrality—explained clearly for your home, mobility, and business.
Get involved:
- Explore scenarios: Which actions bring us to our goal faster?
- Take a quiz on energy transition myths and facts
How can AI support people with dementia?
How can AI make conversations more meaningful? See how technology can support people with dementia.
Get involved:
- Try out the conversation with AI yourself
- Provide feedback and learn about the ideas behind it
How can XR, biosignals, and human-AI improve well-being and collaboration?
How can technology improve teamwork? Discover how Extended Reality (XR), wearable sensors (e.g., heartbeat, breathing), and AI tools can boost focus, reduce stress, and support collaboration.
Get involved:
- Immerse yourself in XR experiences
- Test biosignal interfaces and observe their effects
How are robots used in education?
From playful introductions to high-tech applications.
Get involved:
- Explore with the robot dog “Pepe”
- Program Sphero robots yourself
- Watch an industrial robot in action
How do 3D motion data transform health, robotics, and dance?
Movement goes digital: Discover how 3D data improves avatars, health, and robotics.
Get involved:
- Experience live motion capture
- Follow the journey from your movement to your avatar
Can we build AI into a satellite the size of a shoebox?
AI in space: See how energy-efficient AI can even work in outer space.
Get involved:
- Test low-power AI demos
- Build a mini AI pipeline from sensor data to analysis
MathBuddy: Can an AI tutor make learning math easier?
Learn math with understanding: An AI tutor that senses how you’re doing and adapts.
Get involved:
- Test the math tutor and receive personalized feedback
- Compare different learning strategies
How can data protection truly work for people in everyday life? (10:00 – 17:00)
What is Advanced Data Protection Control (ADPC)? A human-centric approach to managing data protection across the web, IoT, and emerging digital environments. ADPC automates how users communicate their privacy choices to services and devices.
Get involved:
- Explore how consent decisions are communicated through machine-readable signals
- See how ADPC replaces consent banners with a seamless, standardized interface
- Discover how users and parents can manage privacy across connected devices
- Learn how ADPC supports transparency, control, and compliance in real-world scenarios
Can AI predict the future? (10:00 – 17:00)
AI and predictive algorithms are used everywhere, from identifying risky streets to supporting decisions like loan approvals. But predicting the future always involves uncertainty, and when these systems fail, the consequences can be serious.
Through real cases like the AMS algorithm in Austria, explore how assumptions, inequalities, and human decisions shape these tools.
Get involved:
- Explore interactive visualizations of predictive AI
- Discover real-world cases like the AMS algorithm
- Understand the limits and risks of prediction
- See how human values shape AI decisions
- Learn why diverse perspectives matter for building fair AI
How do we understand the world? (10:00 – 17:00)
Around democracy and elections, a key question is how people see the world. Elements of the fabricated exhibition will allow participants to experience their own personal (dis)information bubble.
5️⃣Digital City Studio: When social media meets real-world decisions
How can a single post help respond to a disaster or shape climate awareness?
At Digital City Studio, you explore how social media data and AI are used to assess crises like floods, wildfires, or earthquakes, and how personal experiences compare to scientific climate data.
Social media in disaster management
How can social media posts save lives? Discover how georeferenced data and AI help assess crises like floods, wildfires, or earthquakes more quickly and accurately.
Get involved:
- Filter and evaluate posts on a live map
- Create your own situational assessment and make decisions like emergency responders
Become a Climate Agent
How well do personal experiences align with climate data? Dive into social media discussions and compare subjective perceptions with scientific facts.
Get involved:
- Share your observations and compare them with data
- Analyze online discussions and vote interactively
6️⃣IT:U Disco
Too much AI lately? Network like a real human. Put on your headphones and connect with students, researchers, and future collaborators through music.
GET A GLIMPSE OF IT:U OPEN DAY.
Curious what it’s like to explore a new university and experience a different way of learning?
Watch last year’s recap and see how IT:U Open Day comes to life, from interactive experiences and lab tours to real conversations with students, researchers, and study experts.
This year, we take it even further with new experiences and the Long Night of Research.
Now it’s your turn to explore it yourself.