The Quality and Knowledge Management staff unit contributes to a continuous process of quality development at Med Uni Graz. It follows the excellence model for quality management (EFQM), which always provides space for quality development through self-critical and honest questioning. Spurred on by the intrinsic motivation of employees for improvement, this development increases employee satisfaction.
For Med Uni Graz, aiming for quality means enhancing existing principles or conditions to create or improve procedures and structures that are effective, measurable and sustainable. The four dimensions concept-, structure-, process- and result-quality are taken into account.
Quality management means not only conducting quality assurance to maintain quality standards that have been achieved but also specifically promoting it in the sense of quality development.
Knowledge management comprises strategic knowledge transfer as well as the specific use of appropriate supporting systems. In relation to knowledge management, the complex working priorities are extensive knowledge documentation, sustainable acquisition of knowledge in the organizational units and systematic process documentation.
The central function of the Quality and Knowledge Management staff unit is to keep quality management in all areas of the university at the highest level internationally. This includes:
The continuous improvement of the quality management system is verified by numerous international certifications and accreditations.
The staff unit's team acts internally and externally as the first contact and partner in quality and knowledge management agendas. The internal forum for exchanging information on quality issues at Med Uni Graz, the so-called coordination office for quality management (KSQM for short), is coordinated by the staff unit.
As part of a 2018 quality audit (peer reviewed), Med Uni Graz underwent certification of the quality management system as prescribed by law for the second time and was successfully recertified with no additional requirements for a time period of seven years. The comprehensive recertification was decided on by the accreditation commission of the German quality assurance agency evalag. This confirms the high level of the Med Uni Graz quality management system in all areas of the university.
Audit report and certification results
The Medical University of Graz was the first university in Austria and the fourth in Europe to receive the "Human Resources Excellence in Research" award from the European Commission as part of the European Charter for Researchers. With this award, Med Uni Graz received international recognition for its human resources development strategy and career opportunities for researchers as well as a visible sign of its quality and development. After external peers completed an onsite evaluation, the university's status was reacknowledged by the European Commission in January 2016.
European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers
Since 2005 Med Uni Graz has operated a certified quality management system according to EN ISO9001 in the organizational unit for research infrastructure (Center for Medical Basic Research, Biobank and biomedical research). This system supports the OU in providing internal and external services that range from making research space and large equipment infrastructure available to animal housing to analytics, statistics and biobanking services. The quality management system was certified in 2006 and recertified in 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2021. Internal and external audits guarantee the continuous improvement of the organizational unit. The establishment of this quality management system permits the greatest possible transparency in procedures and processes, creating the basis for successful cooperation with internal and external partners.
Erasmus+ is a program of the European Commission that promotes and supports gaining valuable experiences abroad in the spirit of lifelong learning.
More information can be found here.
The Medical University of Graz has signed the "Family in the University" Charter, joining the best practice club of universities that are family-friendly in how they work. It has signaled to the public that it is aware of its social responsibility as a place of education and life, and it goes without saying that this includes a balance between studies, career and science. Accession to the Charter is based on self-responsibility and the prospect of implementing more of its content at Med Uni Graz. The Robert Bosch Foundation supports the development of a balance between studies, career and science and family roles as a strategy for sustainable equal opportunity and family orientation at universities.
The mobility concept of the Medical University of Graz was recognized by Verkehrsclub Österreich (Austrian Mobility Club, VCÖ), the province of Styria and the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). "Promotion of sustainable mobility by Med Uni Graz" is especially emphasized.
Med Uni Graz makes possible and supports an excellent education by using quality assurance tools and procedures that are continuously being enhanced. They are classified according to the four dimensions of quality, which range from target definition, clarification of responsibility and resource allocation to clear and transparent process flows to efficiency review.
According to concept quality, concrete educational goals receive support, e.g., through the use of educational strategy guidelines or learning goal catalogs. As part of structural quality, for instance, instructions on the use of test formats as well as the ECTS calculator are significant components for optimal planning and gathering of resources and responsibilities that are required for teaching. To ensure comprehensive access to relevant information and make process flows transparent, systems for all university members such as the Intranet (MUniverse), the campus management system (MEDonline) and the Moodle platform (VMC) are constantly being enhanced, thereby proving the actual process quality. In the sense of the continuous improvement process, the result quality in the area of teaching ultimately becomes measurable and enhanced by different evaluation tools as well as measures and findings derived from them.
Conducting high-quality research is one of the main goals of Med Uni Graz. Quality assurance tools that represent the four dimensions of quality are used at different levels.
