In many European countries, the habilitation is the most advanced university examination and serves as proof of outstanding academic or artistic qualification. During the habilitation proceedings, it is determined whether the habilitation candidate is capable of representing the entire range of research and teaching in the discipline. If the candidate is successful, "authorization to teach (venia docendi) an entire academic or artistic subject" (cf. § 103, UG 2002, Austrian Universities Act 2002) is awarded. This is associated with the right to freely provide academic or artistic instruction at a university using its facilities and to oversee and assess academic or artistic work (§§ 81 to 83, § 124).
