Vienna - City of Research

Historically, Vienna has always been a city of science and research and is one of the oldest university cities in Europe. The research landscape is shaped by nine universities, five technical colleges, as well as about 1.000 research institutions.
Working in Vienna means finding a creative and stimulating environment. Living in Vienna also means living in a city that is regularly rated as having the best quality of life.
Since 1997 the Austrian capital has invested approximately EUR 400 million into research and technology projects predominantly focused on the key areas of competence, including life science, creative industries, information and communication technologies and transport/logistics.

Areas of competence in Vienna

Life sciences, information technologies and the automotive cluster are evidence of the dynamic and intense research activities in Vienna’s areas of competence. Also, creative industries are a vibrant area of activity where creative products and solutions are developed. Urban technologies developed in Vienna are in high demand globally. In the environmental sector in particular, research is highly successful.

Areas of Competence

Vienna supports research and science

The City of Vienna encourages application-oriented research through the innovation and technology centre ZIT and the Vienna Science and Technology Fund WWTF. A further six funds and foundations support research with prizes and grants.

Support and Services for Research

Urban Research

Urban areas are complex systems. In order to plan the physical environment of a city, a wide range of subject areas must be monitored. Extensive research is carried out by the City of Vienna, to gain an insight into social, economic and environmental trends that influence the needs of citizens and businesses. Emerging strengths of the economy can be harnessed through proactive town planning. Social and environmental issues can be tackled effectively. The 2005 Urban Development Plan (STEP05), for instance, benefited significantly from this research.

Urban Research and Urban Technologies

Facts and Figures

Vienna is the centre of research in Austria: nearly 30.000 researchers work in Vienna; more than EUR two billion are invested in research annually. Over 40 percent of all researchers in Austria are located in Vienna. Also, more than 40 per cent of Austrian research expenditure can be attributed to the city. The research quota of Vienna already exceeds three per cent of GDP, thus meeting the Lisbon target of the European Union long before the 2010 deadline.

32 per cent of all Austrian research institutions are found in Vienna. Research activity is not limited to universities and large research institutes. Over the past years, the number of businesses conducting research has risen by over 50 per cent. In total, over 1.000 research institutes are active in Vienna. More than 40 per cent of these are university-based. Research departments of large companies as well as small university-based institutes, such as the "Institut für Papyrologie" are renowned across the globe.

Vienna - City of Science: 319 KB PDF • 2,9 MB RTF

For further information see also the German edition