The University of Vienna was founded in 1365 by Duke Rudolph IV. It is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and one of the largest in Central Europe. With 178 degree programs, 40 university continuing education and training programs and around 45,000 active students, the University of Vienna is Austria's largest and most diverse educational institution. With around 7.000 academics, the University of Vienna is Austria's largest teaching and research institution. It aims to sustain a wide range of studies, but at the same time to promote new and innovative fields of research and to establish new networks between disciplines. Together with more than 300 European partner universities, the University of Vienna has entered into an ERASMUS-partnership. Students from approximately 130 countries attend more than 10,000 lectures at the University of Vienna each year.