Austrian Research and Technology Report 2020

1. Current Trends
85
Research (ACR) institutes’ RDI projects often form 
the basis for (further) developing standards. For 
example, new in vitro test methods based on human 
cell cultures were developed at the Austrian 
Research Institute for Chemistry and Engineering 
(Österreichisches Forschungsinstitut für Chemie 
und Technik – OFI) as part of a 2019 R&D project. 
For the first time, these allow the skin compatibility 
of medical products to be investigated without the 
need for any animal testing. The Austrian Research 
Institute for Chemistry and Engineering is currently 
campaigning for these in vitro test methods to be 
incorporated into the relevant set of standards so 
that manufacturers do not need to carry out any 
tests on animals to get their medical products 
licensed in the future.
Evaluation, quality assurance and training
Austrian Cooperative Research (ACR) is a member 
of the Austrian Platform for Research and Technolo-
gy Policy Evaluation (fteval). The Austrian Coopera-
tive Research (ACR) office views evaluations as an 
important learning and steering instrument for 
structuring initiatives and measures on behalf of its 
Table 1-13: Overview of selected Austrian Cooperative Research (ACR) performance indicators
Funding, including third-party funding 
Federal funding
€3.1 million
...of which from the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic 
Affairs (BMDW)
€2.9 million
…of which from the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, 
Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK, 
formerly the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and 
Technology (BMVIT)).
€0.2 million
Third-party funding (international project funding)
€1.6 million
Customers and orders for industry