Research in Austria
Austria plays an active part of the European Research Area. To further strengthen Austria´s position as a knowledge society and to foster innovation, investments in research and development have been increased in recent years, working towards the goal of becoming one of Europe’s most innovative countries.
To achieve this goal Austria also strives to provide favorable conditions and adequate support for researchers. With its active research landscape, a dynamic and innovative economy and a high quality of life, Austria is also an attractive destination for international researchers and their families.
To the Austrian Research and Technology Report 2020
To the Austrian Research and Technology Report 2020 - Factsheet
To the booklet Wissenschaft in Österreich/Science in Austria 2020
In recent years Austria has invested substantially in research and development, reaching the second-highest research intensity in the EU.
Even though further measures are required to reach Austria’s goal of becoming one of Europe’s most innovative countries efforts undertaken in recent years such as the reorganisation of non-university research institutes and the implementation of new funding programmes have already made an impact. The numbers of scientific publications and patent registrations have increased and the collaborations between science and business have been expanded. In addition, Austrian research organisations and enterprises have successfully participated in the EU research framework programmes. Austria is among the three most successful countries regarding the success rate in Horizon 2020.
New measures to achieve a better environment for research are put in place continuously, such as the increase of the research premium, which can be claimed for expenditures on R&D, to 14 % in the course of the latest tax reform.
Compared with 2017 the total amount of the Austrian Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) has risen by 5.6 %. Regarding the latest presumptions, in 2018, 49.5 % of total R&D expenditure were financed by domestic business, 34.1 % were contributed by the public sector, 15.8 % were financed from abroad and 0.6 % by the private non-profit sector.
According to the latest estimates of Statistics Austria € 12.34 bn have been spent on research and development (R&D) in Austria in 2018, representing a research intensity of 3.19 %.