Speech by the Chairman on the occasion of the presentation of the STI Monitor 2025

Dear Federal Ministers, dear State Secretary,
dear representatives of the Austrian STI system!

I would like to talk briefly about the STI Monitor that has just been presented. Many in Europe envy us this instrument. Alexandra Mazak-Huemer regularly receives enquiries from various countries and administrations who want to build a similar instrument. One of the advantages of the STI Monitor is that it has already been online for four years and is intuitive to use. This means that each and every one of you can familiarise yourself with the results. Another advantage is that the STI Monitor operates on a comparative basis, even beyond Europe. This allows us to always view performance in relation to other countries and their STI systems.

Last but not least, the STI Monitor contains historical time series and thus becomes more valuable from year to year – it enables us to track developments. For us at FORWIT, the STI Monitor is also the regular starting point for our analyses, recommendations and statements. For more than 15 years, the Council office has been working on the evaluation and assessment of the now more than 260 indicators. This is an enormous wealth of knowledge that has been built up.

Science policy and research policy are sometimes the opposite of rational and reasonable.
Thomas A. Henzinger

We generally associate science and research with rationality, reason and objectivity. Scientists go where the data, where the evidence leads them. If I have learnt anything as President of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and now as Chairman of FORWIT, it is that science policy and research policy are sometimes the opposite of rational and reasonable. Like any policy, they are often reactive and impulsive, sometimes driven by vested interests – and yes, that too: emotional.

Evidence – especially when it comes to measuring impact – is not only very difficult to establish. Evidence is also not always the starting point for decisions to the extent that might be desired. Perhaps, as the scientist in me says, that’s okay. Politics needs to take other things into account than cold figures. Indicators alone are never sufficient to justify and implement political decisions. But they do represent something like orientation aids and can provide counter-examples to theories. Above all, they can help to objectify a debate and formulate common goals. This is the true value of the STI Monitor.

As FORWIT, it is our task to support the federal government. As an independent council, it is our role to make recommendations and possible courses of action based on the available evidence. In this round, I don’t think I need to convince anyone that science, research and innovation are central to the future prosperity and security of our country.

As soon as the 4% target is mentioned, many people start to extrapolate the millions to be derived from it for their organisation, their agency, their section. This calculation will not work out.
Thomas A. Henzinger

To put it bluntly, it is quite a relief for all of us in the Council that we now have a federal government that is largely of the same persuasion. But at the same time, it would also be presumptuous to claim that nothing can be questioned in the Austrian higher education and STI system. As soon as the target of a research quota of 4% is mentioned – which is rightly included in the government programme – many people start to extrapolate the millions to be derived from this for their institution, their agency, their section. This calculation will not work out.

Not only because the budget situation is indeed serious. Not only because a crisis should be used to increase efficiency and cancel projects that have become obsolete. Not only because the private sector – one of Austria’s proven weaknesses, as the STI Monitor shows – should also make an above-average contribution to achieving the 4% target. But above all because, even if every instrument and every detail of science and research policy were now optimised, this certainly cannot mean that everyone must continue to grow aliquot.

All systems need renewal – new ideas and new priorities – in order to remain competitive. No one around us is standing still. This applies even more to research and innovation than to anything else. The new government should therefore make decisions, even if they are not easy. To this end, I would like to appeal to all members of the Federal Government present and invite them to use us. In FORWIT you have an independent point of contact who will endeavour to have only one interest in mind: the future of the Republic. Even – and especially – when the resulting advice is not always convenient.

All systems need renewal – new ideas and new priorities – in order to remain competitive.
Thomas A. Henzinger

Finally, I would like to briefly mention three projects for which we are already in dialogue with the civil servants and have begun the conceptualisation process. The first is the STI Pact 2027-29, which was kept out of the 2025-26 double budget and still has to be negotiated and finalised this year. The difficult decisions have therefore been postponed until now. It is foreseeable that the growth of previous legislative periods cannot be achieved in times of budget consolidation. This means that the pact has a very special role to play this time: we need to set priorities and possibly even look at instruments that we have grown fond of in a new light.

In this context, I would also like to thank all those who have helped to ensure that the Future Fund Austria is not completely cancelled for next year. After all, this fund is precisely one of the instruments that make it possible to prioritise research policy.

Secondly, the federal government has set itself an ambitious higher education strategy for 2040. I personally think this is very right and important. After all, universities are central when it comes to the production, communication, diffusion and application of scientific knowledge. I believe that this requirement can be used to structure the higher education landscape in Austria more clearly and adapt it to the requirements of the modern labour market.

Above all, however, I believe it is essential for reasons of democratic policy that the number of university graduates – especially those from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds – increases. I have said it many times before, but I repeat myself at every opportunity: education is our most effective – and perhaps our only – measure against populism and extremism.

Nothing less than the continued existence of the European idea is at stake.
Thomas A. Henzinger

Thirdly, FORWIT is involved in the two of the biggest issues of our time – artificial intelligence and security, especially research security. However, this is neither the place nor the time to pontificate on these two topics.

Nevertheless, I would like to issue a reminder. Nothing less than the continued existence of the European idea is at stake – sustainable prosperity in freedom and the rule of law, as opposed to the law of the jungle. With these less than encouraging words, I would now like to encourage you to engage in a joint dialogue. Because that is certainly one of Austria’s strengths.