IST Austria is an interdisciplinary research institution that aims to break down the traditional boundaries between disciplines. The focus is currently on basic research in the life sciences, the physical sciences, mathematics, and computer science. Not being restricted to a specific choice of scientific topics, and actively promoting cross-disciplinary collaborations, the Institute can expand its scientific portfolio quickly into new directions.

In order to foster inter- and multidisciplinary research the scientists at IST Austria are not organized into departments but into independent research groups. Each group is led by a Professor or Assistant Professor, and consists of about ten doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows. With 12 theoretical and 13 experimental research groups on campus in the beginning of 2013, and three more arriving over the next few months, IST Austria has already obtained international visibility in five fields of research:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Cell Biology and Biophysics
  • Neuroscience
  • Computer Science
  • Physics
Scientist using microscope