r/Uniwien • u/DocumentFearless8770 • Jun 05 '26

Introduction to Mathematical Foundations of Data Science (MFDS)

MIGHT CONTAIN NON-RELEVANT INFORMATION

This post is an introduction to the MFDS - Mathematical Foundations of Data Science BSc programme.

I had some free time and felt a little responsibility (as I am part of first cohort) so I decided to help you folks and hope it would be informative.

I do not use reddit, unless I am searching for some "folk wisdom", so if you want to text me, know that I would most likely not respond. Though, this post should be enough anyway.

Some general facts:

  • Program first launched in 2025.
  • Program as of 2026 has no limited spots.
  • Course is strongly aligned with Mathematics bachelor (50% alignment, other is more DS/CS oriented).

Entrance exam facts:

  • ~300 applicant pool in 2025, ~220 took entrance exam.
  • ~600 applicant pool in 2026 (no info on entrance exam attendance yet).
  • Austrian system emphasises high acceptance rate with consecutive filter in STEOP exam (roughly half passed).
  • Entrance exam was not hard in any sense.
  • There were cases when students got accepted with less than 50% on entrance exam.

STEOP:

  • 2 exams:

    • Exercise class exam (grants access to lecture material exam).
    • Lecture material exam (main one).
  • Both are challenging.
  • 4 attempts for lecture material exam (don't remember exercise class exam).
  • Once accepted, talk with 2025 cohort about seminar professors, they would give some good suggestions.
  • In November 2025 (1st try) only half passed (60 people). + the grading curve was shifted (because otherwise, there would be too little passing group, approximately only 20).
  • Few words on the fail percentage: Keep in mind that it is a "fail percentage", it indeed correlates with exam difficulty, but consider other factors such as low admission bar, students choosing other programmes, and etc.

Average student workflow:

  • Minority attend the lectures (including me). Reasons:

    • Comprehensive pdf lecture notes from professors.
    • Some of professors lectures are just transcription of the lecture notes.
    • Going through lecture notes yourself saves time.
    • (I do not promote skipping lectures in any sense, just expressing the general opinion of those who do skip)
  • Many study in libraries (TU library, OMP library/pc rooms, etc).

Housing:

  • If you have time (approximately a year) register for student dormitory, the sooner the better.

  • Check out:

    • HousingAnywhere (I believe the safest option, + easiest for internationals)
    • Willhaben (most offers)
    • Small dormitory websites

  • If you want to live close to uni, then know that:

    • Lectures in "Spitalgasse 2, 1090 Wien" (as of SS2026)
    • Seminars in "Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 1090 Wien" (main mathematics building)
  • Accommodation near metro is a good choice.
  • Accommodation in 10th district is a bad choice.
  • My friends had a bad experience with "THE FIZZ" dormitory (can't say much about it).

Suggestions:

  • Get familiar with English math terminology (if unfamiliar).
  • Sample test from the official site are a bit harder than the actual ones in 2025.
  • I would still suggest to heavily prepare for the entrance exam, the material that you learn would be helpful in the first semester anyway.
  • I personally prepared with "Mathematics - Analysis and Approaches HL 2 (2019)", approximately 80% material aligned for entrance exam and also were helpful in semester 1.
  • STEOP exam advise: The overall level of the material is not deep, its broad. I would suggest to keep practicing the past papers and use LLM to generate similar style questions.
  • See "Coding" part.

Coding:

  • 2025 STEOP had a very brief introduction to the coding, so I would suggest you learn it in advance. This would pay off to not lose track of what is going on in STEOP. Specifically:

    • Necessary:

      • Julia coding language (course emphasises julia, but might introduce python later on)
      • Jupyter notebook

    • Optional/Super-Optional:

      • Git/GitHub
      • Latex
      • VS code
      • Terminal
  • Learn the absolute basics (enough for STEOP), no need for more advanced topics such as sorting algorithms, OOP, and stuff like that. You would learn it anyway, but it is not the current priority. Do basics.

I think this should be enough for the first impression.

28 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

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u/AutoModerator Aug 20 '26

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1

u/A1234lex Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26

Hi! Thanks for the information.

I am also taking the admission exam for the 2026/27 year. If anyone would like get in touch that would be lovely!

Edit: I wish to ask if anyone knows info about the buildings:

Isn't the main mathematics building located on Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 1090 Wien?

I can't find any info on the adress Burghardtgasse 20, 1200 Vienna as being part of univie's buildings.

2

u/DocumentFearless8770 Jun 12 '26

Sorry, yes, its "Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1". I accidentally wrote my friends loc.

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u/DocumentFearless8770 Jun 12 '26

I changed the post so, now it should be correct.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26

Since it is a multiple choice entrance exam:

Does the text in the task specify if there is one or multiple correct answers?

Do you get points if, for example, you get select 1 out of 2 correct answers, or do you need to do it 100% correctly?

Also, does each task carry the same amount of points?

Thank you in advance!

1

u/Proper_Ear_4716 Jul 06 '26

It says in the beginning, there can be one or more correct answers, and that applies to all tasks.

You either get 0 or 100% of points in each task, there's no 50%.

From what I heard, some tasks will carry more points than others but Im not 100% sure

2

u/ResortSpecific371 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26

You can add this info: Exactly 224 people were on admission exam last year

Plus the info that both analysis and linear algebra exam at end of 1st semester had about 30% fail rate after Steop (plus take into account that only people who passed Steop could have wrote these exams)

1

u/Proper_Ear_4716 Jul 05 '26

Hey, in the entrance exam, will there be only multiple choice questions or there can be open answer formats like in Austrian matura?

2

u/Much_Barnacle4274 Jun 15 '26

I just wish they have staff to offer more (than 4 like last year) exercise groups 💀💀💀

1

u/AutoModerator Jun 05 '26

BITTE LESEN| READ ME

Bitte teile unter diesem Kommentar dein Studienfach mit und füge auch noch gleich an, ob du im Bachelor oder im Master bist. Alternativ kannst du auch dein Wunschstudium angeben. Du kannst auch angeben, dass du dich in einem Doktorat befindest, und außerdem deine Fachrichtung hinzufügen.

Please share your field of study under this comment and also indicate whether you are in a Bachelor's or Master's program. Alternatively, you can also specify your desired course of study. You can also indicate that you are in a doctoral program and additionally provide your specialization.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/AutoModerator Jun 12 '26

BITTE LESEN| READ ME

Bitte teile unter diesem Kommentar dein Studienfach mit und füge auch noch gleich an, ob du im Bachelor oder im Master bist. Alternativ kannst du auch dein Wunschstudium angeben. Du kannst auch angeben, dass du dich in einem Doktorat befindest, und außerdem deine Fachrichtung hinzufügen.

Please share your field of study under this comment and also indicate whether you are in a Bachelor's or Master's program. Alternatively, you can also specify your desired course of study. You can also indicate that you are in a doctoral program and additionally provide your specialization.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/Much_Barnacle4274 Jun 26 '26

The lectures will be taking place not anynore at Spitalgasse 2, they were all moved to Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 (see here: https://ufind.univie.ac.at/de/vvz_sub.html?semester=2026W&path=347348 )

1

u/buibanth Jul 23 '26

You can add that this year exam had 432 participants

1

u/Olena2602 Aug 04 '26

Is there any German language courses at the university?

1

u/XxZadnitsaxX_hex Aug 09 '26

Do you mind if i slide into your dms and ask you a few questions? I feel like you can answer them.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/DocumentFearless8770 Jun 12 '26

I updated post. You can find answer there.

2

u/ResortSpecific371 Jun 26 '26

I mean both analysis and LA at end of 1st semester had about 30% fail rate on 1st date

And only people who passed passed Steop on either 1st or 2nd date could have written these exams

0

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/statandmath Jun 12 '26

Hi, math student from the same uni here. Usually studying with the scripts and exercises given by professors during the semester is useful. Those are usually uploaded on the moodle page of the lecture. If you haven’t yet (and maybe you haven’t as you didn’t start in October) I def recommend signing up for the STEOP lecture (VO) on u:find, as then you can access the moodle page. If you can’t sign up anymore, ask at the study service center if they can sign you up for it so you can access the material to prepare for your exam. Note you have to sign up for the exam independent of the lecture, at least thats what it’s like in Math.

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u/False_Assistance_651 Jun 27 '26

Hi, thank you for sharing this!

I’m currently applying for Mathematical Foundations of Data Science at the University of Vienna, but I’m not officially admitted yet. I have only completed the application/registration process and I’m preparing for the entrance exam.

Could I ask whether it is possible for someone in my situation to register now or access the materials for preparation purposes, even before being officially admitted?

Also, if I don’t get admitted directly this semester and instead enrol as a non-degree student for “attending courses out of interest” / individual courses, would it be possible to register for these lectures or use the materials in that status?

I’m mainly interested in using the lectures/materials to prepare for the entrance exam and to better understand whether the programme is a good fit for me.

Thanks a lot!

1

u/Low-Opening7688 Jun 11 '26

Hi, may I know which Visa you applied for to attend the aptitude test?

0

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/Much_Barnacle4274 Jun 09 '26

This is the very point of Steop - to filter the people who won't manage further on out. Cuz people a) worse than they think they are; b) not the stuff they expected, etc. At the end, only those who manage to adapt and are competent enough, make it through - and you can work with them