Vienna - Student protests in Vienna have spread to other Austrian universities, media reported, as students were preparing for demonstrations later on Wednesday to call for better conditions at their institutions.

For the past days, protesters have staged a sit-in at the largest lecture hall at Vienna University, issuing calls for more education funding, and against plans by the Science Ministry to re-introduce tuition fees and to limit access to higher education.

Universities in Graz, Klagenfurt, Linz, and Salzburg have also become venues for protests, the Austrian press agency APA reported.

Science Minister Johannes Hahn has signalled he would talk with student representatives.

After tuition fees were scrapped last year, the number of Austrian and German students enrolling this semester jumped. Except for a few fields like medicine, there are no entrance examinations at universities.

The government on Tuesday named Hahn as Austria's candidate for the new European Commission, possibly for a science-related portfolio. (dpa)