Science in Austria is facing important decisions: negotiations on the research, technology, and innovation budget (FTI budget) for the years 2027 to 2029 will begin in the fall. At a time when the country's budgetary flexibility is limited, funding for science and research is called to place a bid. 

The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) has now launched a public campaign to draw attention to the importance of investments in research and development. With the slogan “No research, no answer,” the ÖAW wants to highlight research as a vital driver of pushing the country forward. 

Visible in public spaces  

To help promote the initiative, five renowned ÖAW scientists are acting as ambassadors of the campaign. IMBA Scientific Director Elly Tanaka joined biochemist Georg Winter, historian Claudia Rapp, sociologist Alexander Bogner and behavioral researcher Angela Stöger-Horwath to participate in the campaign, which will be delivered online and via posts in selected locations in Vienna. Tanaka’s involvement highlights IMBA’s commitment not only to doing top-level research but also to promoting science as key to advancing our society. 

The campaign is aimed at politicians and decision makers in science, research, and academia, with the ultimate goal to raise awareness that without research, key questions about the future – from health and the environment to digitalization – will remain unanswered. 

About Elly Tanaka  

Elly Tanaka studied biochemistry at the University of California in San Francisco, USA, and at Harvard University in Boston, USA. After a research stay at the Ludwig Cancer Research Institute in London, UK, she moved to the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden. Since 2008, she has held a professorship for animal models of regeneration at the Technical University of Dresden. From 2014 to 2016, she also served as director of the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD). From 2016 to 2024, she worked as a senior scientist at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna, Austria. Since 2024, Tanaka has been the Scientific Director at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) in Vienna. In 2024, Elly Tanaka was admitted to Leopoldina in the Genetics/Molecular Biology and Cell Biology Section.  In 2025, Tanaka received the Wittgenstein Award, Austria's most prestigious research award.