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The National Research Environment

Major research funding bodies

Austrian Science Fund FWF

The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) is Austria's central funding organization for basic research. The purpose of the FWF is to support the ongoing development of Austrian science and basic research at a high international level. In this way, the FWF makes a significant contribution to cultural development, and to the advancement of our knowledge-based society.


Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)

The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) is the national funding institution for applied industrial research in Austria. The FFG offers a comprehensive range of services for Austrian enterprises, research institutions and researchers – from the management of public funding programmes to consulting services in all phases of technology development and innovation, from support for integration into European research programmes and networks to the promotion of Austria's interests at the European and the international level.


Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft (aws)

Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH (aws) is the Austrian federal promotional bank.
It assists companies in their implementation of innovative projects by granting loans, awarding subsidies and issuing guarantees at favourable interest rates, particularly in cases in which it is not possible for these companies to obtain the necessary funds in a sufficient amount from other sources of financing. In addition, it provides support in the form of specific information, advisory and other services to prospective, established and expanding companies.


Research funding Ministries

Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (bmvit)

Information about funding programs and open tenderings are available mainly in German on the ministries websites. A service called
Förderkompass is provided by the bmvit which aggregates information about current different research funding programs and institutions.

Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy (bmwfw)

There is a broad overview about research in Austria and current research programs and projects. Furthermore an initiative called
Der Forschungsatlas provides all links and records in social media about research in Austria in real time. Information about funding programs and open tenderings are available mainly in German on the ministries websites.


Further funding bodies

Academy of Sciences (OeAW)

The OeAW as the largest non-university research institution cultivates discourse and the cooperation between science, the public, politics and the economy and practices applied and open basic research at its 29 institutes at the highest international level.

As a public institution, the OAeW advances national and international scientific cooperation, offers researchers far-reaching advancement and career-development opportunities and supports up-and-coming scientists with fellowships as well as training and advanced training. The OAW sustainably supports the development of Austria as an innovative and future-proof knowledge-based society.


Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (LBG)

Founded in 1960, the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (LBG) is the parent organisation of the 13 Ludwig Boltzmann Institutes (LBIs) and five Ludwig Boltzmann Clusters (LBCs).
The institutes and clusters conduct leading-edge research in life sciences as well as social sciences, humanities, the arts and cultural studies. The work done at the LBIs and LBCs constitutes the LBG’S unique research portfolio. Named after the famous Austrian physicist, mathematician and philosopher Ludwig Boltzmann, the LBG still takes its lead from his wide range of academic interests, by pursuing interdisciplinary approaches. The LBG is financed by a mix of public and private funding, and the LBIs and LBCs employ a total of approximately 550 people. Since the comprehensive reorganisation of the LBG in 2002, LBIs can only be established on the basis of calls for proposals and must operate under the scrutiny of international expert review.


Christian Doppler Research Association (CDG)

The Christian Doppler Research Association promotes the cooperation between science and business. Specifically, this takes place in specially established research units with fixed terms, in which application-orientated basic research is pursued: Christian Doppler Laboratories at universities and non-university research institutions, Josef Ressel Centres at universities of applied sciences.

Under the direction of highly qualified scientists, research groups work in close contact with the commercial partners on innovative responses to business-related research issues.


Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB)


The Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) has a long tradition of promoting research: Through its Anniversary Fund, the OeNB supports outstanding scientific work above all in the field of economics and medicine, but also projects related to the social sciences and the humanities.

In addition, the OeNB sponsors a number of grants and awards, such as the Klaus Liebscher Award or the Olga Radzyner Award, and offers a visiting research program for young scientists.


Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education & Research for Development (APPEAR)

APPEAR is a programme of the Austrian Development Cooperation (
ADC) with the aim to implement its strategy for support of higher education and research for development on an academic institutional level in the ADC’s southern priority countries and key regions and in three priority countries of the South Caucasus and Black Sea Region.

The overall objective is to strengthen the institutional capacities in higher education, research and management in the addressed countries through Academic Partnerships with Austrian higher education institutions and master’s and PhD scholarships as a contribution to effective and sustainable reduction of poverty.


Commission of Development Research at the OeAD–GmbH (KEF)

The Commission for Development Research at the OeAD-GmbH (KEF) aims at bridging the gap between science and development by supporting a development-oriented approach in research and science. The main principle is the incorporation of the development policy approach in science and research.


National projects and initiatives

Open Access Network Austria (OANA)

The OANA was established in 2012 as a joint activity under the organisational umbrella of FWF and UNIKO.

The network ties in with the
uniko Open-Access Recommendation (12.01.2010) and the FWF-Positionpaper (17.01.2012) and develops specific recommendations for the implementation of Open Access in Austria. In November 2015 the OANA has released 16 recommendations for the transition towards Open Access in Austria published in the paper Recommendations for the Transition to Open Access in Austria.


  • Coordination of and recommendations for the Austrian OA-task/ activities of research institutions, funding organisations and research policies (including  international developments)
  • Positioning towards the information providers (mainly publishing houses)
  • Contact persons and source of information for scientists, research institutions and (research-) policies


e-Infrastructures Austria

e-Infrastructures Austria is a three-year partnership project sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economics (BMWFW) for the coordinated establishment and development of repository infrastructures for digital resources in research and science throughout Austria to securely archive and publish digital publications, multimedia objects and other digital data resulting from research and education. The project promotes the exchange of experiences on technical, organisational, legal, and content related issues between the libraries, IT services, scientists and researchers at both local and national level.

Objectives:


  • Construction of Document Servers
  • Design and Construction of Repository Infrastructures for Research Data and other complex data objects
  • Establishment of a Knowledge Network and Knowledge Infrastructure to manage digital resources and accessible to all 25 partners



Digital Humanities Austria (DHA)

Digital Humanities Austria is a platform for the dissemination of the digital paradigm in Austrian humanities studies. The virtual network is run jointly by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Vienna and the University of Graz, is supported by these institutions and the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy and will serve as a staging area for all kinds of DH research activities.


Institutions with an Open Access Policy

University of Vienna

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna

Paris Lodron University of Salzburg

University of Graz

Graz University of Technology

Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt

Institute of Science and Technology (IST)

Austrian Science Fund (FWF)

Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW)

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education & Research for Development (APPEAR)

Commission of Development Research at the OeAD-GmbH (KEF)


Open Access publishing

Austrian Open Access Journals listed by the DOAJ

The Directory of Open Access Journals lists 46 Austrian journals by August 2016

 

Open Journal Systems at Austrian Institutions

Open Journal Systems (OJS), University of Vienna

Being affiliated with the University of Vienna, you are invited to use this software for the management and the publication of your journal. This free service is offered by the library and ZID.

Open Journal Systems (OJS), University of Innsbruck

This service is offered by the University of Innsbruck.

Open Journal Systems (OJS), University of Graz

This Service is offered by the Library of the University of Graz.

Open Journal Systems (OJS), TU Graz

This free service is offered by the ZID.

Open Journal Systems (OJS), Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW)

This service is offered by the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.


Open Access repositories

Austrian Open Access Repositories listed in OpenDOAR

The Directory of Open Access Repositories lists 26 Austrian Repositories by August 2016


Useful links and resources

Open Access Office at the University of Vienna

Creative Commons Austria

Open Access Plattform für Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz


Useful documents

B. Bauer, G. Blechl, Ch. Bock, P. Danowski, A. Ferus; A. Graschopf, Th. König, K. Mayer,  F. Reckling; K. Rieck P. Seitz, H. Stöger, E. Welzig: Empfehlungen für die Umsetzung von Open Access in Österreich. (2015) Zenodo: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.33178

B. Bauer, G. Blechl, Ch. Bock, P. Danowski, A. Ferus; A. Graschopf, Th. König, K. Mayer,  F. Reckling; K. Rieck P. Seitz, H. Stöger, E. Welzig: Recommendations for the Transition to Open Access in Austria. Zenodo. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.34079

N. Schmidt: Der Goldene Weg des Open Access zum funktionalen Publikationswesen. Handlungsoptionen für die Universität Wien (The Golden Road of Open Access to a Functional Publishing System. Courses of Action for the University of Vienna), in: u:scholar – Institutional Repository der Univ. Wien (2014),
https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:337723.

B. Sánchez Solis: Factors for Enabling Sharing and Reuse of Research Data, in: Phaidra (2014),
https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:343651.


Contact details of the National Open Access Desk in Austria

Gerda McNeill and Anna-Laetitia Hikl, University of Vienna