Logo

Austrian Latin America Institute (LAI)

The Austrian Latin America Institute (LAI) was founded in 1965 as a private association with the principal task of intensifying the dialogue between Austria and Latin America. The Institute offers language courses (Spanish, Portuguese and indigenous languages) and the "Master for Latin America Studies" (in co-operation with the University of Vienna), runs a library, supports Latin American students and organises cultural activities. It is also a communication platform for Austrian Latinamericanists by offering an enquiry service and organizing the Annual Meeting of Austrian Latinamericanists.

The Institute enjoys excellent relations with diverse European institutions engaged in themes related to Latin America such as research and cultural affairs, as well as Latin American academic institutions. It played an important role in various events related to the EU-LAC Summits from 1998 onwards, especially the Vienna Summit from 2006.


From 2007 to 2009, the Latin America Institute coordinated the project LAC-ACCESS (www.lac-access.net) funded by EU the Sixth Framework Programme, which aimed to connect high quality research between the European Union and Latin American and Caribbean countries. At present, it is partner in two follow-up projects of LAC-ACCESS in the Seventh Framework Programme, ENLACE (Enhancing scientific cooperation between the European Union and Central America, www.enlace-project.eu) and Access2MexCyT (Promoting High-Quality Research Opportunities for European Researchers in Mexico, www.access2mexcyt.eu).

University of Vienna | Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring 1 | 1010 Vienna | T +43 1 4277 17575