Destination Europe

Career Opportunities

in Austria

Philipp Marxgut

Director and Attaché of Science and Technology

OSTA Washington

February 12, 2015

About Austria

Population 8.5 Mio

Growth (est. 2014) 0.8 %

GDP/capita (2013)

€ 38,050

(~ $43k)

Inflation (Dec 2014) 1 %

Public Debt (2013)

81,2% of

GDP

Deficit (2013) 1.5%

Unemployment (Nov 2014)

4.9%

… one of the richest countries in the world (#3 in the EU in 2014)

Sources: OECD, Eurostat, Statistik Austria, OeNB * GDP per capita in PPS

Quality of Life in Austria

Quality of Life in Austria

http://www.bond24.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/spectre-solden-1.jpg

Vienna: Tradition and Innovation

Mercer Quality of Living Ranking 2014

…This is, after all, the city where chocolate cake and sparkling wine are an appropriate snack at any hour, where the Wiener schnitzel is typically bigger than the plate on which it’s served, and where residents all know how to waltz… NYT, Dec 31, 2014

Austria‘s R&D Expenditures/GDP

The World in R&D 2014

Battelle, 2014 Global R&D Funding Forecast

Austrian Universities

GENERAL UNIVERSITIES

MEDICAL UNIVERSITIES

UNIVERSITIES OF THE ARTS

TECHNICAL UNIVERSITIES

UNIVERSITY KREMS

SPECIALIZED UNIVERSITIES

• Vienna • Graz • Innsbruck • Salzburg

• Vienna • Graz • Innsbruck

• Vienna (Art Academy) • Vienna (Music &Drama) • Vienna (Applied Arts) • Graz (Music & Drama) • Linz (Design) • Salzburg (Mozarteum)

• Vienna • Graz • Leoben (Mining)

• Post Graduate

• Vienna (Life Sciences BOKU) • Vienna (Veterinary Medicine) • Vienna (Economics & Business) • Linz • Klagenfurt

Funding Opportunities

• On the European Level

• Horizon 2020

• European Research Council

• Marie Curie Actions

• European Molecular Biology Organization YIP

• In Austria

• Austria Science Fund (FWF)

• Start Program

• Stand-alone Projects

• Vienna Science, Research and Technology Fund (WWTF)

Campus Vienna Biocenter

• 80 different research groups

(1400 scientists and 700 students

from over 40 countries)

• 12 companies

• 4 basic research institutes

• 1 university of applied sciences

• 24 ERC Grants and

10 Wittgenstein Awards

Basic Research @ Vienna Biocenter

• Molecular and cellular biology; circuit

neuroscience; differenciation and disease;

biology, computation and engineering

• Curiosity driven research to determine

molecular mechanisms of biological

processes in health and disease

• Molecular and Cell Biology

(from biochemistry to structural biology)

• Center for Molecular Plant Biology

(from basic mechanisms of epigenetics to

population genetics)

• Located at the campus of the

Medical University (MUV) and the

Vienna General Hospital (AKH),

CeMM functions as a bidirectional

channel between basic research

and clinical applications

• Mission: integrate basic research

and clinical expertise

• Research: cancer, inflammation

and immunity

• Infrastructure: mass spectrometry and genomics facility,

deep-sequencing unit, bioinformatics expertise, chemical

biology facility, virology lab, access to imaging and sorting

Postdocs @ IMBA and CEMM

Institute of Science and Technology Austria

• Basic research in the natural &

mathematical sciences and graduate

education

• Inaugurated 2009, in 2014:

31 Group Leaders (15 ERC grants)

• Goal for 2026: 90 research groups

with 1,000 scientists

• US Tenure Track System

www.ist.ac.at

IST Austria: Who is there

www.ist.ac.at

Quantum Physics: IQOQI

www.iqoqi.at

• Theoretical and experimental physics

• Located in Vienna and Innsbruck

Thompson Reuters Highly Cited

Researchers 2014:

•Rainer Blatt

•Rudolf Grimm

•Christian Roos

•Peter Zoller

•Anton Zeilinger

Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT)

www.ait.at

AIT: Austria’s largest non-university research institute in

applied research

Mission: “Bridging the gap between research and

technology commercialization”

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

www.iiasa.ac.at

IIASA‘s Young Scientists

Summer Program (YSSP)

• 50 int. students doing independent

research, supervised by IIASA staff,

June 1 – August 31, in Laxenburg, Austria

• Open to advanced graduate students

whose research interests (and dissertation)

correspond to IIASA‘s research areas

• Goal: publishable journal article

• Funding available from IIASA‘s member

organizations

• On-line application

www.iiasa.ac.at/yssp/apply

• Applications for 2016 YSSP will open on

Oct 1, 2015 and run until Jan 11, 2016

IIASA‘s Postdoctoral Programm

• Up to 8 postdoctoral fellowships available

• Typically 2 years duration

• Applicants submit research proposal that fits with one or more IIASA focal areas

• Applications are accepted continually online at www.iiasa.ac.at/postdocs

• Reviews and selection of scholars occur in April

Science, 16 January 2015

English speakers in Austria

Testimonial

Peter Hosemann ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA – BERKELEY

Personal Information

• M.S. in Material Science, Montanuniversitaet – University of

Leoben, Austria (2005)

• Ph.D. in Material Science, Montanuniversitaet – University of

Leoben, Austria; research student at Los Alamos National Laboratory,

NM, USA (2008)

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Los Alamos National Laboratory, (2008-

2010)

• Assistant Professor, Nuclear Engineering UC Berkeley, (2010-

2014)

• Associate Professor, Nuclear Engineering UC Berkeley, (2010-

2014)

• study of materials behavior in extreme environment

Research Group Numbers

• Team Members: The Materials in Extreme Environment at

UCB-Berkeley team has 18 members; 9 PhD students, 2 post

docs, 2 FTE, 2 visiting scientists and 3 under graduate students.

• Publications: In 2014 the team published 8 peer reviewed

articles and several proceedings, etc., which is twice the

department’s average.

• Team funding: No positions are funded out of university

overhead or block funds. All funds provided are outside funds from

government agencies or industry. 2/3 are funded by the

government, 1/3 is funded by industry.

• Facilities: We are part of a national user facility that has

extremely unique equipment not available elsewhere in

North America.

Austrian Collaborations/Experience

• 2005-date Collaboration with the Department of Materials

Physics at the University of Leoben; several

papers were published jointly.

• 2008-date Substantial use of the Marshall Plan Fellowship

which fosters the exchange of students between US

and Austria. Total of 7 MS students Austria US;

2MS students USAustria.

• 2007-date Annually I teach the class “Materials for Nuclear

Applications” at the University of Leoben.

• Collaboration with two Austrian companies

• 2 Visiting Professors have come to UC-Berkeley in the last 3 years

for 3 month to 2 year visits.

• Every year I host 2 to 4 Professors from Austria for 1 to 3 weeks.

Why consider Austria for your next career move?

• Excellent school system, very good undergraduate/graduate

training: well trained, highly qualified workforce

• Commitment to invest in research: about 30% success rate

@ Austrian Science Fund (FWF). DOE or NSF success rate is <10%

• Academic salaries are typically “hard money” (less pressure)

and14 months not 9 months

• Opportunities and incentives from the EU

• Attractive industry location: excellent industry-government

joint funding structure

• English used in most workplaces (however: for daily survival outside

work some German is extremely helpful)

• Very safe environment and good family life

Opportunities in Austria – Academia/Research Institutions

• Full professor/group leader positions:

• very few positions, low turnover

• competitive salaries; but less flexible

• Other university positions: (e.g. assistant professor, staff scientist)

• very few positions

• less experience needed

• possibilities to advance?

• stability of the position?

• independence?

Opportunities in Austria – Industry

• Extremely diverse group of opportunities, ranging from

giant chemical and pharmaceutical companies to small

(10-50 employees) start-ups

• Appealing, unless you absolutely cannot imagine a life

without teaching

• Money for equipment, travel, and staff salaries usually

less of a problem

• Salaries often higher

• Often more isolated feeling than at academic institutions

Contact

Philipp Marxgut

Director and Attaché for Science and Technology

OSTA Washington

EMBASSY OF AUSTRIA

E-MAIL: MARXGUT@OSTAUSTRIA.ORG

TWITTER: OSTAustria_DC

Peter Hosemann

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA – BERKELEY

E-MAIL: PETERH@BERKELEY.EDU