E-mail etiquette

Our students have all grown up with modern means of communication such as e-mail, whatsapp, messanger and sms. You will have exchanged emails with your classmates, chat with fellow students via WhatsApp and use various forums and Facebook groups.

We have compiled a short guideline for you, as it seems that it is not always clear which e-mail style is appropriate in the university sector.

Each e-mail must, like a letter, begin with an adequate salutation. The following salutations are quite suitable for your private SMS / E-Mails, but not if you send a formal e-mail to e.g. a lecturer, a secretary, etc.:

    • Hello, I have a question
    • Hi Mr. Prof!
    • Hey,
    • No salutation, e-mail starts directly with text
    • Dear Anna!

    Unfortunately, far too many e-mails we receive at the institute begin in this very casual manner.
    We do not answer such e-mails.

    You do not have to list all the titles, dear Professor XY, or Dear Mrs. XY / Dear Mr. XY are perfectly adequate.

    Please send your request to ONE person. We coordinate the mails internally and forward you to the right person. Please do not try to send an email with the same content to SEVERAL employees because you did not like the first answer. Here you will find further information. It is best to send your request to IVET (at) boku.ac.at, so you will receive the quickest answer.

    If you have a technical question, please write to the lecturer, the course directly.


    If your question is answered on this FAQ page, you will not receive an answer from us.


    An appropriate final formula for in written communication would be, for example, "Sincerely."

    Formulations like LG, XOXO, Ciao, thanx, etc. are inappropriate.

    Please include the following data in your mail, otherwise it can not be processed:

    • first and last name
    • matriculation number
    • degree course
    • name and number of the course to which you have a question,

    Unfortunately, we can not look into the future. An email like: "Hello my name is Maria, I am participating in one of your practical courses and have a question regarding the written minutes" requires a lot of clairvoyant ability to know who you are and which course you are referring to.

    The new General Data Protection Regulation adds that we can only answer e-mails sent by BOKU email addresses.