Road and red-brick university buildings on the University of Manchester campus.

Austria Admission for the winter semester closes 5 September; grant and fee-waiver applications run through the international office

BOKU Vienna International Student Grant

BOKU is Austria's university for natural resources and life sciences, and its subject list reads like a Sri Lankan development agenda: water management and environmental engineering, agricultural sciences, forestry and ecosystem management, food science and biotechnology, mountain risk engineering, and international development studies in agriculture. Several Master's programmes are taught fully in English, some as joint European degrees. As an Austrian public university it charges non-EU students roughly €726 a semester, so the fee barrier is minimal, and BOKU adds merit and need-based grants plus fee-waiver routes for students from developing countries. The university also has a long institutional history of collaboration with South and Southeast Asian partners on water, soil and agricultural research, so a Sri Lankan research interest is a familiar rather than exotic proposition here.

BOKU University Vienna (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences)

University-funded

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Support

Merit & need grants + fee-waiver routes

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Non-EU Tuition

~€726/semester (~LKR 250,470)

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Fields

Water, Agriculture, Forestry, Food, Environment

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Relevant Bachelor's Degree

Agriculture, environmental science, civil or water engineering, forestry, food science, biotechnology or a related discipline, with good results. Sri Lankan graduates from Peradeniya's Faculty of Agriculture, Ruhuna, Wayamba, Rajarata and Moratuwa are well matched to BOKU's programme list.

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Admission to an English-Taught Master's

Confirm which BOKU Master's programmes run fully in English — several are German-language, and some are joint degrees with partner universities in Europe, which changes both the mobility pattern and the fee structure.

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Financial Need Considered

Need-based support and fee waivers take family income into account for students from developing countries. Prepare documented evidence of household income at application stage.

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English Proficiency

IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL iBT 87 for English-taught programmes, waived where your Bachelor's was taught and assessed entirely in English. German is not required for the English tracks.

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Match your background to a programme

BOKU assesses curriculum equivalence closely and may prescribe supplementary examinations. Compare your transcript against the programme's prerequisite modules before applying.

Submit the admission application

Certified degree certificate and transcripts with sworn translations
Module descriptions for equivalence assessment
Motivation letter linking your background to the programme's research areas
English proficiency evidence or Medium of Instruction letter

Approach the international office about support

Ask directly about current grant schemes, fee-waiver eligibility for students from developing countries, and any project-linked research assistantships in your intended department.

Apply for OeAD awards in parallel

The North-South Dialogue Scholarship Programme is specifically for students from developing countries and is a strong fit for BOKU's subject areas; the Ernst Mach Grant is the broader Austrian government award. Both have their own deadlines.

Residence permit and arrival

The Austrian student residence permit requires proof of roughly €13,000 per year in accessible funds. Apply at the embassy with the admission letter; processing runs eight to twelve weeks.

Why BOKU?

Founded in 1872, BOKU University Vienna specialises entirely in natural resources and life sciences and consistently ranks among the top European universities in agriculture and forestry. It runs long-standing research partnerships across Asia and Africa on water, soil and food systems, and its International Development programmes are built around exactly those collaborations.