Austria
Facts & FiguresAustria
Where
Research infrastructure
In 2019, there were 52,554 full-time researchers in Austria (1). Austria has 55 higher education institutions: 22 public universities, 20 universities of applied sciences and 13 private universities (2). There are more than 250 public non-university research organisations (3,4), over 60 Technology Centres and Clusters and more than 3,000 companies involved in research (4). A number of research institutes were established by the Länder (4).
Research funding
Research strategy
Research governance, compliance and integrity
The Austrian government officially created several national bodies for research self-regulation: Austrian Bioethics Commission, Advisory Board on Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, and National Committee for the Protection of Animals used for Scientific Purposes. These are government advisory bodies regarding research ethics (9).
Forum for the Austrian Ethics Committees is a body that represents all 27 ethics committees in Austria. It consists of the Board and General Assembly, which have regular meetings once and twice a year (9). Moreover, the Forum organises annual training for the members of ethics committees (10). Some of ethics committees serve both as hospital, university and state committees. The work of committees is supervised by the Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (9).
Ethics committees at universities are compulsory only for the Medical Universities, which is stipulated by the University Act and additionally regulated by Hospital and Resort Act. Today, the majority of Austrian universities have non-statutory ethics committees. Some universities have a Board for Ethical Issues (University of Innsbruck) or a Commission for Scientific Integrity and Ethics (Graz University of Technology) or an Ethics platform and Ethics committee (Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences). Usually, opinions brought by university ethics committees, advisory boards and commissions are non-binding and serve as guidelines for researchers (9).
Austrian Agency for Research Integrity is responsible for raising awareness for the Standards of Good Scientific Practice. Since the Agency has no legal competence, its opinions are not binding and it is up to each institution whether to apply them. For the implementation of research integrity and good scientific practice, universities usually have individual guidelines which differ due to their academic autonomy. In 2015, there was a joint process to agree on common guidelines; all (at that time) 37 member organisations agreed (11). Following the suggestion of Forum of the Austrian Ethics Committees, an annual training course for members of ethics committees is organised by the Centre of Ethics and Medicine of the Lower Austria State Academy. Moreover, the General Assembly of the Forum meets once a year during an annual Forum meeting (12).
In 2016, the Agency and Austrian Students Ombudsman founded a network for exchange of experiences in the area of conflict management, quality assurance and maintaining good scientific practice (13).
Austrian Agency for Research Integrity is also responsible for investigating cases of misconduct. Inquiry can be initiated by the members of the Agency and individuals, whereupon the Agency will decide its competence to bring statements in each case. However, those statements do not have any legal influence and it is up to each institution to bring decision about further actions in the cases of allegations of research misconduct (14). Besides the Agency, cases of misconduct at Universities are handled by research integrity committees or similar bodies. Some cases of proven misconduct were published in media.
The investigation of alleged cases of misconduct is confidential i.e. the identity of whistleblowers and accused are not revealed (15).
Austria does not have a specific law for the regulation of research and possible violations of research integrity.
| Bodies for RE+RI | Scope |
| Austrian Bioethics Commission | Advises the Federal Chancellor from an ethical point of view on all social, natural scientific and legal issues arising from the scientific developments in human medicine and human biology. |
| The Advisory Board on Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering | Advises the authorities on basic questions of genetic engineering in relation to GMOs in contained use, the deliberate release and placing on the market of GMOs, and genetic analysis and genetic therapy in human beings. |
| National Committee for the Protection of Animals used for scientific purposes | Advises government on research ethics. |
| Austrian Agency for Research Integrity – The Commission for Research Integrity | Investigates cases of research misconduct in Austria, evaluates the severity of each violation and recommends follow-up measures. |
| Research Ethics Committees (federal and local) | Provide opinion on research ethics. Some of them serve both as hospital, university, and state committees. |
Laws and regulations
The Austrian government officially instated several laws regarding RE and RI.
| Law | Scope |
| Federal Act concerning the Protection of Personal Data | Protects fundamental right to data protection. |
| Federal Act on the Organisation of Universities and their Studies (University Act) | Ensures autonomous development and integration of individual universities into an overall system. |
| Genetic Engineering Act | Regulates the main aspects of biotechnology and genetic engineering and lays down the rules for the installation and work of an Advisory Board on Gene Technology and its three scientific committees. |
| Federal Act on Experiments on Live Animals | Protects the life and well-being of animals based on man’s special responsibility for the animal as a fellow creature. |
| Hospitals and Health Resorts Act | Lays down general principles concerning hospitals and health resorts. |
| R & D Statistics Regulation | Aims to compile statistics on research and experimental development. |
Measures to promote good scientific practices and open science
RI training
The Austrian Agency for Research Integrity offers training for researchers in the form of workshops, lectures, and train-the-trainer programs. The training is not mandatory. The Agency delivers via their web page various documents regarding the promotion of research integrity (guidelines, reports, recommendations) that can be used for training. Moreover, the Agency participates in several EU projects related to research integrity (ENERI, VIRT2UE and SOPs4RI). It has created Guidelines for Good Scientific Practice.
Some universities in Austria have also created guidelines on good scientific practice:
Medical University of Graz - Standards of Good Scientific Practice and Ombuds Committee,
Graz University of Technology - Guidelines on Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice,
University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna – Good Scientific Practice,
University of Linz - Guidelines for Ensuring Good Scientific Practice,
University of Klagenfurt - Ombudsman Guidelines for Good Scientific Practice and Code of Conduct for Good Academic Practice.
Austrian Agency for Research Integrity participates in the ENRIO meetings and organises workshops and training session for research integrity (11).
RI dialogue and communication
The members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences are engaged in informing the general public of important scientific insights and they form committees to discuss questions which are important for the science and society (16). Usually, cases of research integrity are dealt with in confidence and decisions are not made public. Some cases of misconduct were reported in the press. There are several initiatives from projects on responsible research and innovation and science shops, “Wiener Vorlesungen” (17). The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) publishes statistics on suspected cases in an anonymous form, and is updated annually (18,19). RI is discussed in the lay press occasionally. The cases that are discussed the most are related to research fraud.
RI incentives
Austria offers a number of incentives for research companies as well as for individual researchers in R&D. Whoever carries out research in Austria pays a lower tax. Funding Agencies work on the promotion of R&D by providing generous funding for research projects (20). There are also several awards for contributions in research or scholarships for young researchers in different research areas. Some universities also offer awards for research, e.g. University of Innsbruck.
| Initiatives | Scope |
| Austrian agency for research integrity training | Training |
| Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria | Accreditation |
| The Wittgenstein Award | Support |
| The START Prize | Support |
| The Klaus Liebscher Scholarship | Support |
| The Olga Radzyner Award | Support |
| The Franz Weninger Award | Support |
Guidelines
Austria
A total of 5 guidelines were found. Add a Guideline.
- Position Paper on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in Austria (September 2021)
- Research Integrity & Research Ethics: Guidelines of the Austrian Science Funds (September 2021)
- Responsible Research: Recommendations of the Institute of Science and Technology, Austria (September 2021)
- Social Sciences and Humanities Matter. Guidelines on How To Successfully Design and Implement, Mission-Oriented Research Programmes (May 2021)
- Austrian Agency for Research Integrity Guidelines for Good Scientific Practice (October 2020)
Ana Marusic, Andrijana Perković Paloš, Elsa Amin contributed to this report. Latest contribution was Oct 22, 2021
