World Champion Austria Research & development
Cutting-edge research – an expedition into the future Austrian research power is receiving a major financial boost with the new funding programme “excellent=austria”.
E
xcellent=austria is the funding programme of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research to enhance Austria’s reputation as a top location for research among the international scientific community. The e=a funding tracks are managed by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and offer researchers new opportunities to conduct top-level research. Universities and other research institutions can consolidate their strengths in a sustainable way. The aim is to boost Austria’s innovative capacity and to find answers to the challenges of tomorrow. Through excellent=austria, Austria plans in the coming years to send promising research teams on a journey to gain innovative insights into all fields of knowledge. Researchers receive more opportunities to take their research beyond the boundaries of their research institutions and their field, with maximum financial independence—and that in close cooperation with the best in the world. Innovative forms of national and international collaboration are specifically encouraged, and a key role is given to the promotion of young researchers and the speedy transfer of knowledge. The goal is to further enhance Austria’s reputation as an attractive place to conduct research and advance one’s career. A new dimension of research funding The amount and flexibility of research funding are critical for competing with the best researchers in the world. In the first e=a funding track, the Clusters of Excellence, a total of up to 70 million euros (over ten years) is available to research teams to conduct forward-looking large-scale projects in basic research—the volume exceeds all previous FWF funding programmes. To make the scale clear: A Cluster of Excellence involves large teams, with outstanding research infrastructure, working together for several years. At the same time, excellent=austria also allows for
the dynamic use of funds to account for the progress of the research. Thus, as the project develops, researchers can change course to pursue especially promising directions. An additional goal is to expand long-term collaborations between leading researchers across regional and thematic boundaries. Excellent=austria offers three funding tracks Excellent=austria will be implemented in three stages to ensure that it is integrated into the Austrian research landscape in the best way possible. The programme kicks off with the Clusters of Excellence for the purpose of developing large national and international projects. Submissions for this track will open in summer 2021. This will be followed by the Emerging Fields, a funding track designed to step up basic research in fields with particularly high future potential. The third option, the Austria Chairs of Excellence, will provide universities and other research institutions with more means to recruit and retain leading international researchers in Austria. Clusters of Excellence A Cluster of Excellence is characterised by the successful combination of top-level research, research-oriented training and promotion of young researchers, and the national and international exchange of knowledge. The funding programme provides groups of researchers at Austrian research institutions with the opportunity to achieve outstanding cooperative research results in one field or interdisciplinarily. The goal is to establish this research field in Austria in the long term at a top international level. The promotion of young researchers and research-oriented training are integral parts of the programme, and particular emphasis is also placed on equal opportunities and diversity. In addition, special importance is given to the transfer of knowledge and technology in the
