News and Publications
Precisely because of budget constraints, there is an urgent need to continue the higher education dialogue and swiftly develop and implement a future-proof higher education strategy.
With this analysis, FORWIT provides a key foundation for the federal government’s Higher Education Strategy 2040 and offers input for its development.
The innovation economist and former Chair of Germany’s Expert Commission on Research and Innovation (EFI) is contributing to the further development of Austria’s innovation system.
Theresia Vogel becomes Deputy Chair of the Federal Government’s advisory council, while Sylvia Schwaag Serger leaves the Council after more than ten years of commitment to Austrian STI policy.
The increase in funding, the focus on addressing efficiency deficits, and the emphasis on transferring research into marketable products send an important signal for Austria’s innovation landscape.
The FORWIT analysis “From Science to Business” identifies systemic weaknesses in the transfer from research to successful products and highlights what is needed to make the industrial strategy a success.
Transcript of a speech by Sylvia Schwaag Serger at the opening of FORWIT’s New Year Reception on 26 January 2026 in the Austrian Parliament.
How is research financed in Austria, and how has the R&D ratio developed over the past two decades?
The art of evidence-informed policymaking lies in productively combining different forms of knowledge, rather than setting them hierarchically against one another.
What can Austria’s Industrial Strategy 2035 learn from historical and current evidence in order to realise its full potential?
A brief assessment of the new strategic framework for Austria’s research, technology and innovation policy.
Evidence for Policy
With the STI Monitor, FORWIT makes a significant contribution to science-based policymaking in Austria: Visualisation of the development of indicators over time and their long-term contributions to change as well as trends, I/O performance and the degree to which the goals of the STI Strategy 2030 have been achieved provide stakeholders and political decision-makers with a basis for strategically and systemically effective decisions and actions.
Green Transformation Opportunities
FORWIT’s ECTO dashboard identifies green products that are not currently produced on a significant scale and therefore represent a special opportunity for Austria to position itself as a market leader in global competition in the future. The Workforce Calculator makes it possible to calculate the skilled labour, training and qualifications required for the desired added value.
Budgets are only part of the equation: What kind of higher education does Austria need?
— NewsPrecisely because of budget constraints, there is an urgent need to continue the higher education dialogue and swiftly develop and implement a future-proof higher education strategy.