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Be a Giant

We emulate the best universities worldwide like Stanford, Cambridge, ETH and the Weizmann Institute and concentrate specifically on a long-term fundraising campaign. We are setting ourselves an ambitious goal:  in the five-year period 2022 to 2027 we want to raise 100 million Euro. Your donation helps to build an endowment that will be invested permanently. The return enables our scientists at ISTA to conduct long-term research with your support.

The fundraising campaign is supported by the Strategic Advisory Council to the Preisdent (SAC), an exclusive circle of friends of the institute. Chaired by Laurence Yansouni the SAC develops strategies for the expansion of its network of supporters and donors.
It is a group of volunteers appointed by the President of ISTA to accompany the Institute in the next phase of its growth. The mission of the SAC is to offer strategic advice to the President of ISTA in matters related to Development and to the creation of important partnerships for the Institute. To this end, the members of the SAC act as ambassadors for ISTA with the goal of raising awareness in Austria and abroad of the Institute’s aims and achievements. In addition, the SAC currently supports the President of ISTA in the structuring and implementation of ISTA’s Capital Campaign for the Endowment.

Members of the Strategic Advisory Board

Chair: Laurence Yansouni
Co-Chair: Stefan Weber
Members: Martin Unger, Heike Jandl, Christian Rainer, Hermann Hauser, Steven Heinz, Therese Niss, Ursula Plassnik, Rudolf Scholten, Veit Sorger, Franz Viehböck

Committed ISTA donors

Peter Bertalanffy
Bertalanffy Foundation Building

“I liked the idea behind this research institute: the goal of bringing some of the best researchers from all over the world to Austria, the institute’s complete independence from all political and economic interests, and the professional exploitation of research results – I consider all of these to be important cornerstones of a world-class research institution.”


Klaus Pöttinger
Pöttinger Scholarships

“Austrians are proud of scientific and technical achievements of the past. The task of our generation is to offer the next generation the opportunity to develop the scientific and technical achievements of the future and thus to strengthen the pride in these achievements. That is why I have decided to support the PhD program at the IST Austria individually.”


Markus Reinhardt, NOMIS Foundation
NOMIS Grant for Professors Johannes Fink and Giorgios Katsaros

“The excellent scientific environment that ISTA offers to basic researchers is a major reason for our decision.”



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