Over the past few years, Vienna has become one of the most vibrant centres for Ottoman studies outside of Turkey and the successor states – perhaps even the foremost one in Europe today.

At the University of Vienna, the Central European University, and the Austrian Academy of Sciences, more than fifty researchers are currently engaged in projects that span the medieval, early modern, and modern periods. Our collective expertise reaches from philology, history, and theology to environmental and social history, art history, cultural heritage studies, and the digital humanities, to name just a few.

ViHOPE emerges from this environment. It is not a new institution in the traditional sense, but rather a platform that connects existing institutions and individuals, making their cooperation more visible and sustainable.

At the same time, ViHOPE has a symbolic dimension. Vienna’s relationship to the Ottoman world is deeply embedded in the city’s history and collective memory.