In 2002 Austria dedicated an estimated 4.2 billion Euro to research and development.
With a rate of about 1.95% (measured against the gross domestic product) Austria is currently average among the OECD countries in regard to research expenditure.
Austria´s research policy distinguishes between science-oriented and business-oriented research. Science-oriented research takes place under the auspices of universities and specialised colleges, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Institutes run by the Ludwig Boltzmann Society, the Higher Technical Training Institutes and other state and private-sector research facilities. Business-oriented research is carried out by Austrian companies and private and state research institutes for whole economic sectors.
Priority objectives of the Federal government in the area of research and technology are the following: Networking with European partners and targeted extension of competence clusters; extension of funding under programmes by creating national research programmes with thematic focuses, matching current EU programmes or in preparation of the new Framework Programme. Biotechnology and genetic engineering are a major priority research and development field, amongst others. “e-Austria”, a specific Austrian programme, emphatically aims at improving qualifications in information technology and telecommunications in a European context (e-Europe). Intensifying the dialogue between science and society will contribute to reducing scepticism towards science; a special programme is being prepared for this purpose.
The focus of Austria´s international scientific and technological research co-operation is on the European Union. Another important aspect is the collaboration with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in view of the enlargement of the European Union.
Austria also participates in the activities of the Council of Europe, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), OECD and UNESCO.
Austria has currently 19 universities (or college with university status) , including the University of Vienna, which was founded in 1365. In the 2003 winter semester 192.408 regular students were registred, according to preliminary statistics. Of these, 32.708 were from abroad, corresponding to a share of 17%.
Sixteen Austrians have been awarded the Nobel Prize. They include Julius Wagner-Jauregg in 1927 (therapy of paralysis), Wolfgang Pauli in 1945 (the "Pauli Principle" in quantum theory), Karl von Frisch and Konrad Lorenz in 1973 (behavioural science), and Friedrich A. von Hayek in 1974 (economics).
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