4th Higher Education Policy Dialogue at the House of Industry in Vienna

At the invitation of the Federation of Austrian Industries (IV) and TU Austria, national and international experts and company representatives discussed the topic of ‘Universities of excellence as a competitive factor for the best minds and ideas’ at the 4th University Policy Dialogue on Tuesday, 24 May 2022.

The President of the Austrian Federation of Industry, Georg Knill, emphasised in his welcoming address "We need the best ideas in order to grow beyond ourselves This not only applies on a personal level, but is a guiding principle and maxim for companies and must also apply to Austria as a centre of research and innovation From an industry perspective, this requires excellence in three dimensions - qualification, digitalisation and innovation
 

Excellent innovations for the future do not emerge in a vacuum, says Knill, we need science as a strong partner "The Austrian Excellence Initiative is a clear political commitment to more excellence at the location This can increase the international visibility of outstanding achievements in basic research It is also pleasing that the Future Austria Fund has created a sustainable financial basis for a research focus on ‘excellent research groups’
 

At the same time, the ongoing strategic dialogue between science and industry must be stepped up The aim must be to significantly increase the number of innovations from university research that are successfully realised on the market, says the IV President
 

In his opening statement, TU Austria President and Rector of Montanuniversität Leoben, Wilfried Eichlseder, emphasised the importance of a perfect environment for domestic universities: ‘High-quality services and products require “bright minds”, the best education, the best research, the best working conditions, in short: excellent conditions Bright minds, whether in science or business, are the basis for the prosperous development of a society and are inevitably linked to each other And therefore an important location factor,’ says Eichlseder
 

In his keynote speech entitled ‘DRESDEN-concept: A core element of Dresden as a centre of excellence’,Gerhard Rödel, Managing Director of DRESDEN-concept e.V., presented the core elements of the successful development of Dresden as a university location into a university of excellence
 

The subsequent panel discussion on the topic of ‘Universities of Excellence as a competitive factor for the best minds and ideas’ was held by Stefan Poledna, CTO, TTTech, Sybille Reichert, Consultant for Policy and Strategy Development in Higher Education, Maximilian Richter, Deputy Head of Cabinet and Group Leader in the Higher Education Department at the University of Dresden and Group Leader in the Higher Education Section, Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, Katharina Schröder, ERC grant awardee, TU Wien,Brigitta Schultze-Bernhardt, ERC grant and START awardee, TU Graz and Sabine Seidler, Rector of TU Wien and Vice President of TU Austria

Queries:
Mag. Dr Elke Standeker, Bakk MBA
Secretary General of TU Austria
T: +43 3842 402 7013
elke.standeker(at)tuaustria.ac.at
 

Invitation & Programme 4th University Policy Dialogue