Networking for Success
The “cooperative sector” i.e. non-university research is the fastest growing field in Austria’s research landscape, with R&D expenditures almost tripling over the past ten years. More than 7,000 people are employed at 57 non-university research facilities.
Austrian Cooperative Research (ACR)
SMEs are important drivers of the innovation merry-go-round, whether this involves sustainable construction, environmental technology, renewable energy, the quality and safety of food or materials and process innovations. For this reason, the dynamic impetus provided by good ideas is being selectively supported by Austrian Cooperative Research in the form of 500 research projects each year.
Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT)
The Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT)plays a key role in Austria and in Europe as a research and technology institute for key infrastructure issues of the future. With its five departments of Energy, Mobility, Health & Environment, Safety & Security as well as Foresight & Policy at locations such as TechGate Vienna or the Austrian Research Centers Seibersdorf, AIT closely cooperates with the business community on developing new infrastructure solutions. Multinational companies such as Siemens, Magna, OMV and AVL have long had confidence in the competencies of AIT.
Joanneum Research
For more than 30 years Joanneum Research has been carrying out leading-edge research of international caliber and is a sought-after R&D partner for top companies. With its five research units in Materials, Health, Digital, Resources and Policies, Joanneum Research ranks as one of the largest non-university research institutions in Austria today and an important driver of application-oriented research and technological development in the fields of e-health, nanomaterials, Web 2.0, renewable energies along with economic and innovation research.
Christian Doppler Research Association
More than 70 Christian Dopplerlaboratories at Austrian universities create an extremely productive bridgehead between science and business and give the business community effective access to application-oriented basic research. The temporary facilities operating for a period of seven years boast annual budgets of up to EUR 600,000, 50% of which is financed by public sector funding. This serves to reduce the corporate risk. Other advantages are that CD laboratories compile basic knowledge in an ongoing exchange of experience, which in turn is applied in companies to develop new products and processes.
The close connection to the scientific community means that the business community remains closely attuned to scientific trends and exploits the opportunity to further develop the latest findings into technology push innovations. It is not without good reason that some 125 international industrial partners such as AVL, Infineon, OMV, Sandoz, voestalpine, Biomay, Lenzing and Plansee already relied on this form of private public partnership.
Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (LBG)
The Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (LBG) specializes in cooperative research, and initiates the highest quality research issues together with academic and corporate partners. As a private supporting organization, it establishes Ludwig Boltzmann institutes for limited periods of time. The priorities are human medicine, life sciences, humanities, social sciences and cultural studies with an emphasis on health sciences. In particular, the focus has been on interdisciplinary and transnational research.
At present some 300 employees at 20 institutes and 5 clusters deal with the latest scientific issues and carry out top-level international research work. The LBG is rated as one of the strongest players in Austria for medical-clinical research, cooperating with business partners such as Siemens and Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals as well as start-ups and SMEs, for example Tissue Gnostics and RISC Software GmbH.
Other recognized research partners for industrial companies include arsenal research in Vienna, Salzburg Research in Salzburg, Fraunhofer Research GmbH, Upper Austrian Research, V-Research and Silicon Austria Labs GmbH.
