Further development of the higher education area and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of research funding and the RTI system are the order of the day

 

For many years, the Austrian University of Applied Sciences Conference (FHK) has been pointing out an imbalance in the Austrian RTI system, which the RFTE has now once again highlighted in its monitoring report. The RFTE report was presented this week to the National Council submitted.

In terms of research expenditure, Austria ranks second in Europe with a research ratio of 3.18% (share of gross domestic expenditure on research and development, measured against gross domestic product) and is therefore among the leaders. However, Austria lags behind in terms of research output, i.e. those factors that measure how the results of research reach society in order to generate innovations and added value. On the European Innovation Scoreboard, it is currently only in the middle of the field in 8th place.

Like the RFTE, the FHK is convinced that more efficiency and effectiveness is needed in research funding and in the RTI system in order to compensate for this imbalance. In this context, it will be crucial for Austria to prioritise those areas of government research expenditure that enable a boost in innovation. Application-orientated research and its institutions have a key role to play here, as they are decisive for the transfer of innovation and thus for output. Austria must make greater use of this lever in future.

"As applied research universities, universities of applied sciences achieve a double effect. On the one hand, they transfer technologies and research results to the economy and society in order to create marketable products and services. On the other hand, they train highly qualified specialists who are urgently needed," emphasises FHK President Raimund Ribitsch. "And yet the universities of applied sciences show that application-oriented research is not yet recognised by politicians. Universities of Applied Sciences do not receive sustainable research funding that would enable them to compete for national and international research funding on an equal footing. As a result, an entire university and science system remains virtually unutilised. However, sustainable funding from the Ministry of Science would contribute significantly to a substantial further development of the higher education area and to an increase in the efficiency and effectiveness of the RTI system, as recommended by the RFTE."