Research Organizations Welcome Commitment to University Funding

The largest non-university research organizations—the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)—view the commitment to university funding as both necessary and positive. The postponement of the decision until this coming fall is in line with legal requirements and now provides sufficient time to assess and allocate missing funds in connection with structural criteria, just as was successfully done with the FTI Pact (Research, Technology, and Innovation Pact). This strengthens universities’ ability to competitively secure third-party funding. Universities and research institutions are interconnected; one cannot be sustainable or internationally competitive without the other.

Heinz Faßmann, ÖAW President: “The ÖAW collaborates excellently with universities in many areas. Together with the University of Vienna and the Vienna University of Technology, we are establishing the Science Center Q; with the universities in Graz, we are establishing the CORI Institute for Metabolic Research; and numerous ÖAW staff members and members hold professorships at the universities. I am confident that the budgetary efforts on all sides will lead to promoting the excellence of the universities with the strongest research programs, taking further steps toward reform, and successfully continuing forward-looking projects.”

Martin Hetzer, President of ISTA: “The continued success of Austria’s scientific system requires both: excellent non-university research institutions and high-performing universities with adequate funding. This is the only way we can ensure our country’s innovative strength, international competitiveness, and future viability. Investments in science and research are therefore investments in Austria’s prosperity and social development. It is an important and positive signal that the intensive search for a long-term, sustainable solution for university funding is now continuing again.”

Christof Gattringer, President of the FWF: “From the FWF’s perspective, the efforts to secure a solid university budget are very welcome. Only with sufficient funding will it be possible to actually implement the ten-year ‘Clusters of Excellence’ program to the planned extent and thus establish forward-looking structures for basic research.”

The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the FWF, and ISTA welcome the fact that the federal government has now made science and research one of its priorities. Our country’s prosperity depends largely on their success and effective knowledge transfer. Issues such as addressing the consequences of climate change, an aging population, or the digital transformation can only be solved with the help of science and research. The path to success of the past years and decades must not be abandoned.