annual report 2011 printing information Publisher and Media Owner | © austrian council Rat für Forschung und Technologieentwicklung | 1010 Vienna | Pestalozzigasse 4 Design | Grafikatelier Heuberger | Vienna Photo Credits | Pinter | RFTE | ZFE Graz | Karin Schachinger | Christian Mikes Walter Schneider | EIPA-EPSA 2011 | fotolia.com | Sebastian Kaulitzki snez_4eva | Lemonade | Paylessimages | dusk | istock.com Printed by | gugler cross media | Melk 2 xxxxxxxxxxxcontents 4 foreword 5 editorial 7 outlook Tomorrow's Global Challenges in an Age Obsessed with the Present – and What that has to do with Education and Research 8 17 the austrian council recommends Recommendations 2011 18 35 creating knowledge What has been Accomplished 36 Reports and Studies 2011 43 International Activities 47 57 events 67 the austrian council Cooperation Agreement with Lower Austria 68 The Austrian Council for Research and Technology Development Awarded EPSA 2011 Best Practice Certificate 68 Review and Outlook: 2011 and 2012 69 Members of the Austrian Council 70 Members of the Secretariat 71 72 c o n t a c t t 3 2011 was a turbulent and challenging tion and thus its international competitiveness foreword year in a number of respects. The hope will more than ever be determined by the strength that the effects of the financial and eco- of our research and innovation system, there is no nomic crisis that erupted in 2008 could alternative to continued investments in the futu- swiftly be brought under control, has sin- re-oriented areas education, research and develop- ce been replaced by the conviction that ment. The Federal Government’s RTI Strategy Europe and the USA will both need considera- can provide a basis for taking appropriate measu- bly longer to overcome the financial turmoil. res and initiatives to set the right priorities and find the investments for the future. This difficult international environment has al- so made the situation for Austria more com- This latest report on the activities of the Austri- plex. As a result of the steps taken by the Fede- an Council for Research and Technology Deve- ral Government during the immediate financi- lopment shows that the Austrian Council and al crisis, Austria is now much better placed than the responsible government ministries have to- other members of the European Union in ma- gether taken important steps to strengthen Au- ny indicators. Nevertheless, we too have to ma- stria as a centre of RTI and to push ahead with ke far-reaching cuts in order to consolidate and the process of structural change that has been stabilise the budget. successfully initiated. At the same time, however, the undisputed need We wish the Austrian Council for Research and to consolidate the budget makes it all the more Technology Development every success in the imperative to adopt a course that will safeguard coming year as it carries out the tasks that are so the future of our country and that of future ge- important for the future of the Austrian research nerations. As Austria’s quality as a business loca- and innovation system. Doris Bures Dr. Maria Fekter Minister of Transport, Minister Innovation and Technology of Finance Dr. Reinhold Mitterlehner Dr. Karlheinz Töchterle Minister of Economic Affairs, Minister of Science Family and Youth and Research 4 We will all have to work very hard! Education, research and innovation are increa- succeed in making structures in Austria editorial singly becoming crucial factors in economic more efficient – e.g. by abolishing the competition. The future of a country is already Hacklerregelung (which allows long-term largely determined by its innovative power and contributors to the state pension system to ability to use its talent potential. Austria, too, retire much earlier than the statutory age) cannot escape this development if it wishes to and the like – and investing the resources in preserve its high standard of living and prospe- education, research and innovation, our coun- rity in the medium and long term. try can establish itself as a highly innovative lo- With a GERD-to-GDP ratio of 2.79 percent in cation with the best possible conditions for ex- 2011 and a strong culture of cooperation bet- cellent science and research and catch up ween science and industry, Austria has success- with the group of innovation leaders. fully positioned itself as a good place for inno- The Strategy for Research, Technology vation, especially in the years 2000 to 2007. and Innovation of the Austrian Federal While it is understandable that the outbreak of Government presented in March 2011 the international financial and economic crisis is a first and important step in this re- in 2008 slowed down this positive development, gard. While the analyses and findings the trend must now be reversed as quickly as of the Strategy are very convincing, possible to allow Austria to retain its position greater courage now needs to be shown in among the front-runners. developing suitable measures – and above In other words: We must now quickly overco- all, a secure financing commitment – if it is to me the current stagnation and regain or even be implemented successfully. To ensure plan- Hannes Androsch Chairman of the strengthen the dynamism that characterised the ning certainty both for investments from busi- Austrian Council early years of this millennium in the area of re- ness, and for the various research institutions, search and development. While this does requi- a solid development of the financing inputs re more money, it is above all a matter of using must be guaranteed. This should be done the resources properly. The duplication and frag- by drafting and adopting the law on re- mentation that exist in many areas must there- search financing announced by the Go- fore be eliminated, as must abuses so that the vernment. money that is freed up is available for sensible investments in education, science, research and Austria faces important decisions innovation that will safeguard our future. This that will determine the future is also an essential prerequisite for generating the The mistakes of the past that led both to economic growth that is necessary to safeguard structural weaknesses and to our budget dif- jobs and our prosperity. ficulties are now forcing us to make the neces- Peter Skalicky sary corrections so that the next decade does Deputy Chairman of the Understanding the crisis as an opportunity not become a lost one. This firstly requires the Austrian Council The current European debt crisis is a challenge, ability – and also the willingness – to think in but it also presents an opportunity to imple- the long term. It then subsequently requires the ment long overdue structural reforms, also and courage to act. particularly in Austria. Comparable countries In view of this fact, the most urgent task of the such as Switzerland, Finland and Sweden have Austrian Council for Research and Technology already taken crucial steps in this direction and Development is to identify and demand from as a result have been able to significantly impro- those in positions of responsibility the imple- ve their positioning in the recent past. If we mentation of measures that are necessary to im- 5 prove and further develop the Austrian ning state, but in terms of the quality of the fra- editorial research system. The aforementioned mework conditions that it provides. research financing law is just one point One thing is certain. Without highly educated here, but a particularly important one. people, without an excellent research perfor- On the whole, the structure of the research mance and broad-ranging innovation activities, system should – like all other areas – be go- without courage and a willingness to take risks, verned by the principle: as much state interven- we will not be able to meet the challenges that tion as needed and as much freedom – in the face us at present - nor those that arise in the fu- sense of individual responsibility and initiative ture. Austria will have to work hard if it is to – as possible. This requires a strong state, but not keep up with global changes and not fall back in the sense of an all regulating and all determi- into mediocrity. The members of the Austrian Council (from left to right) Markus Hengstschläger, Karin Schaupp, Gi-Eun Kim, Renée Schroeder, Marianne Hilf, Peter Skalicky, Gabriele Ambros, Hannes Androsch 6 outlook On the challenges presented by tomorrow’s world in an age outlook that is obsessed with the present – and what this has to do with education and research. The best way to predict the future is to create it! Willy Brandt The true art of politics is the art of winning people’s support for a good cause even when the pursuit of that cause may interfere with their particular momentary interests. Václav Havel Current state of affairs nisation via future Internets, transnational co- Infant mortality is falling all over the world, operation, materials science, alternative energy, while life expectancy is increasing. At the same cognitive science, inter-religious dialogues, syn- time malnutrition among children in Africa thetic biology, and nanotechnology continue and Asia is rising, and industrialised nations and converge over the next 50 to 100 years, it are facing massive problems in financing their is easy to imagine a world that works for all.”1 healthcare and pension systems. Although we So how can we manage to confront these chal- have been spared the nuclear war between world lenges successfully? powers that was so feared in the era of the Cold War, the number of terror attacks and other A brief look back violent crimes is growing. And while we are be- Just over twenty years ago, right after the col- coming ever more mobile, the resulting CO2 lapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of Commu- emissions are increasingly having an adverse nism in Europe and the reunification of Germa- impact upon the climate.