Austrian Research and Technology Report 2020

2. Key Players in Research Funding and in Non-university Research 
95
Previously, this chapter of the Austrian Research and Technology Report has always highlighted the fed-
eral funding agencies, specifically the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the Austrian Research Promotion 
Agency (FFG) and the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws), which issue or administrate the majority of feder-
al RTI funding on behalf of the federal government. However, the circumstances surrounding central re-
search and the research funding institutions will change fundamentally once the upcoming Research Fund-
ing Act (FoFinaG)
112
has been approved. In addition to establishing planning certainty for a period of three 
years, the amendment and the subsequent Research Funding Act are intended to give the federal minis-
tries involved more strategic responsibility to steer and control while simultaneously expanding the oper-
ational flexibility of the researching and research funding institutions. This includes an annual monitoring 
in accordance with Section 8 of the amendment: “
In accordance with Section 1(2), the federal ministers 
must report annually to the National Council within the framework of the Austrian Research and Technol-
ogy Report as per Section 8(1) of the Research Organisation Act (FOG) (FOG), Federal Law Gazette No. 
341/1981
.”
113
The utilisation of the Austrian Research and Technology Report to this end aims to avoid duplicate 
structures and processes and enable efficient reporting. The key researching and research funding institu-
tions described in the monitoring in the context of the Austrian Research and Technology Report are listed 
exhaustively in Section 3 of the amendment. Criteria for listing were research-related federal funds of at 
least €10 million per year or a research-related funding volume from the federal government of the same 
amount plus organisation as a stock corporation with a majority stake held by the federal government, as 
a legal person under public law or as an association with “clear controlling influence by the federal gov-
ernment”. Based on these criteria, ten key players in research funding and non-university research are 
presented in the Austrian Research and Technology Report. These are:
• Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (AIT);
• Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria);
• Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW);
• Silicon Austria Labs GmbH (SAL);
• Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (aws);
• Christian Doppler Research Association (CDG);
• Austrian Science Fund (FWF);
• OeAD-GmbH (OeAD, the Austrian Exchange Service);
• Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG);
• Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (LBG).
This year’s Austrian Research and Technology Report presents the general profiles of the ten institutions 
along with selected indicators chosen together with the responsible federal ministries and based on a 
forecast of future developments.
The chapter is intended to be an initial step towards developing a “systemic view” of the entire system 
(at least at the national level). The goal is to satisfy the monitoring requirement while preserving 
112 In autumn 2019, a public review process was initiated for a “federal act under which a federal act will be passed concern-
ing the circumstances involving the funding of research, technology and innovation (Research Framework Act – FRG) and 
amending the Austria Wirtschaftsservice Act (aws-Gesetz), the Research and Technology Promotion Act, the Austrian 
Research Promotion Agency Act (FFG-Gesetz), the Research Organisation Act, the IST Austria Act (IST-Austria-Gesetz), 
the Austrian Exchange Service Act (OeAD-Gesetz) and the Austrian Academy of Sciences Act (OeAW-Gesetz) (Research 
Framework Amendment 2019)”. The Research Funding Amendment 2020 will be based on this public review process.
113 See 
https://www.parlament.gv.at/PAKT/VHG/XXVI/ME/ME_00165/index.shtml
 

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