Ceremonial Inauguration of Andrea Olschewski as Rector of Karl Landsteiner University
Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Andrea Olschewski was officially inaugurated yesterday, 25 June 2026, as the new Rector of Karl Landsteiner University (KL) during a formal ceremony. In the presence of Deputy Governor Stephan Pernkopf, who is responsible for science and research in the Province of Lower Austria, as well as around 200 national and international guests from education, healthcare, science, politics and business, the University Professor of Experimental Anaesthesiology assumed overall responsibility for the university. Olschewski had already succeeded founding rector Rudolf Mallinger at the beginning of February 2026. Mallinger had built up KL over the past 14 years.
Rector Olschewski: Combining excellence with responsibility
In her inaugural address, Rector Andrea Olschewski outlined her vision for the future of the university: “Karl Landsteiner University is in a phase of further development. We have excellent prerequisites: strong partners, committed staff, outstanding researchers and a unique connection between science and clinical practice. Our mission is to further develop this location, to make the best possible use of its strengths for research, teaching and healthcare, and to promote scientific excellence through cooperation, networking and exchange across institutional and national borders,” emphasised Rector Olschewski. “When we look back on the development of KL in ten years’ time, I hope people will say: it combines scientific excellence with social responsibility, it supports people and opens up prospects for them — and it has used its particular strengths to make a sustainable contribution to health, science and society.”
Deputy Governor Pernkopf: Full support of the Province of Lower Austria for the university
The further development of the university outlined by Rector Olschewski is expressly supported by the Province of Lower Austria. Deputy Governor Stephan Pernkopf referred to the university’s special role for Lower Austria as a centre of science and healthcare: “Karl Landsteiner University is a strong commitment to science, medicine and the future in Lower Austria. It stands for international excellence, regional responsibility and an education that directly benefits our healthcare location. With Andrea Olschewski, a rector is taking office who will not only continue this successful path but also further strengthen it with new emphases,” stressed Deputy Governor Stephan Pernkopf. “Especially in times when the financing of science is being discussed, I say very clearly: anyone who wants cutting-edge medicine, research and the education of the best minds must not shirk responsibility. Karl Landsteiner University has the full support of the Province of Lower Austria.”
Shareholders: A driving force for science and healthcare
In a panel discussion with the shareholders and the Chair of the Search Committee, expectations for her term as rector became clear: to further develop Karl Landsteiner University in its special structure, to strengthen its role at the interface of medicine, health sciences, technology and innovation, and to further position it as a driving force for science and healthcare.
Sabine Seidler, Chair of the Search Committee, outlined the qualities the committee had sought and found in Andrea Olschewski: “Successfully leading a university requires scientific reputation, management skills, social competence, empathy, an understanding of economic matters and international experience.”
Markus Müller, Rector of the Medical University of Vienna, defined his view of Karl Landsteiner University: “It is not quantity but performance and quality that make a university. That is precisely what matters when a location wants to be attractive and internationally visible. And: freedom of research is extremely important. Good universities give back to society many times over — on many different levels.”
Jens Schneider, Rector of TU Wien, underlined the flexibility of the university: “For us as a large university, KL is a speedboat: things can be tested and implemented here that require significantly more lead time in large organisations. There is enormous potential for international visibility and leadership, particularly at the interface of medicine and technology.”
Eugen Hug, Medical Director and Managing Director of MedAustron, built a bridge between international research and clinical care: “Medicine is increasingly about individualised care. Patients do not ask about statistics, but about what specifically applies to them. This is precisely where great potential lies in combining clinical research, data analysis, AI and international cooperation.”
Companions: Scientifically excellent and internationally connected
The second panel discussion focused on the future of medicine, health sciences, research and international cooperation. Long-standing companions of Rector Andrea Olschewski highlighted her scientific expertise, her international networks and the strengths she brings to her new role as rector. Janusz Janczukowicz, President-elect of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE), spoke from the perspective of medical education; Wolfgang Kübler, Director of the Institute of Physiology at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, emphasised the importance of international research collaborations for scientific excellence; and Anna Hemnes, Chair of Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Past President of the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute (PVRI), focused on the role of translational research networks in transferring scientific findings into clinical application and to patients. Together, they looked ahead to the role Karl Landsteiner University can play over the next ten years as an internationally connected university for health sciences.
The festive event concluded with the presentation of Karl Landsteiner University’s new brand identity by Rector Andrea Olschewski. Following a two-year rebranding process, the university will in future operate under the concise name “Karl Landsteiner University”; the previous addition “for Health Sciences” will be dropped. From autumn 2026, the new name and the new word-and-design mark will be rolled out gradually.
About Andrea Olschewski
Andrea Judit Olschewski is University Professor of Experimental Anaesthesiology and Rector of Karl Landsteiner University. The internationally recognised expert in pulmonary vascular medicine stands for translational research that connects experimental findings with patient-oriented application, as well as for strategic university development in the European Research Area.
After studying medicine in Hungary and Germany, she completed her specialist training at Justus Liebig University Giessen, where she qualified as a professor in 2002. This was followed by research stays at the University of Minnesota and, from 2006, a professorship at the Medical University of Graz. In Graz and at Johannes Kepler University Linz, she held numerous leadership positions, including Dean, Vice-Rector and Head of a Ludwig Boltzmann Institute.
Her scientific record includes more than 160 peer-reviewed publications, over 12,000 citations and more than 25 million euros in third-party funding acquired. For her achievements, she has received, among other distinctions, the Fresenius Prize, the Manfred Specker Medal and an honorary doctorate from Semmelweis University Budapest.
