After completing the middle school in Linz in 1821, Christian Doppler studied mathematics, geometry and physics at the Polytechnic Institute of Vienna. In 1825 he graduated with excellent grades.
After he had returned to secondary school in Salzburg to gain his school-leaving certificate, between 1829 and 1833 he was employed by Adam Burg as an assistant for higher mathematics at the Polytechnic Institute in Vienna.
After time spent in Prague and Schemnitz, in 1849 Doppler was appointed professor of geodesy. He was the successor to Simon Stampfer, the very man who had played a crucial role in setting Doppler on his academic life-course when he was Simon’s student.