Austrian Research and Technology Report 2020

4. RTI Evaluation Culture and Practice
205
Recommendations
In summary, the evaluation report highlights the fol-
lowing five recommendations:
219
1. The growth rate at IST Austria should continue to 
be around five professors per year so that the 
milestone of 90 professorships can be reached 
by 2026 and the milestone of 150 professorships 
is possible by 2036. This requires that the Austri-
an government commits funding for the period 
2026 to 2036 and that the federal state of Lower 
Austria continues to commit to the correspond-
ing construction programme, combined with an 
agreement that IST Austria will retain full control 
over all activities on the campus grounds.
2. Due to the increasing number of professors, IST 
Austria’s management has decided to divide the 
administrative management of the Institute into 
three research areas, each of which is headed by 
one professor appointed by the president for a 
219 See Haroche et al. (2020, 45).
period of three years. This new structure must 
remain flexible. Consultation mechanisms within 
the Institute would empower professors, give as-
sistant professors a voice and give everyone 
more opportunities to help shape the future of 
the Institute.
3. The committee supports IST Austria’s objective 
of offering a combined master’s degree/PhD pro-
gramme and hopes to soon see a change in the 
law to make this possible.
4. IST Austria should intensify its efforts aimed at 
achieving a strong presence in the field of chem-
istry by identifying young and promising re-
searchers and making attractive offers to them.
5. Efforts should continue aimed at increasing the 
proportion of female professors, particularly in 
the fields of mathematics, physics and computer 
science.

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