The Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) has been successful in securing funding for researchers from the United States of America: The Fonds Zukunft Österreich (FZÖ) is providing the OeAW with €10 million, which will enable the academy to finance its new APART-USA program. APART-USA is aimed at postdocs from the US and the entire domestic science system: 25 OeAW scholarships are available to highly qualified scientists to relocate their research to Austrian universities or research institutions for four-year postdoctoral positions.

OeAW President Heinz Faßmann says: "We are no longer standing by and watching the disturbing events at US universities, but are acting quickly and unbureaucratically. With the APART-USA program, the OeAW is making a significant contribution to promoting outstanding talent who find better conditions for their research work in Austria than in the US. The approval of our initiative by the FZÖ is the right signal in these turbulent times. The FZÖ is able to respond quickly to new challenges, which makes it all the more important that it continues to exist in the future."

Rapid implementation

The program will be implemented very quickly. The OeAW will launch the call for applications in July. Austrian universities and research institutions will be eligible to apply. They will submit positions for postdocs who are conducting research in the US. The program is open to researchers of all nationalities, including Austrians interested in returning to their home country. To enable swift action, places will be allocated according to a nomination key. Each of the four-year scholarships is endowed with €500,000, 75% of which is financed by the FZÖ, with the respective research institution contributing 25%.

6 million for register-based data research

The OeAW has also successfully applied to the FZÖ with a second programme. In three rounds of funding, the “Data:Research:Austria” initiative has already successfully supported projects in the field of register-based data research, in which existing data is used for fundamental research into social issues. The €6 million now secured will enable two further rounds of funding. www.oeaw.ac.at/foerderungen/data-research-austria