Organisational Framework for Creating and Sustaining Scientific Quality at Austrian Universities

The research performance of Austrian universities is shown to be at the frontier in only a few areas. Against this background, this study examines the organisation of university research in Austria and whether it is conducive to high quality research. A questionnaire among international researchers as well as a literature survey shed light on the most important organisational factors driving the quality of university research. Among these, decreasing in importance, are working conditions and the recruitment of young assistant professors, the recruitment of PhD students as well as the organisation of the PhD programmes, the organisation of research among established researchers and the quality of undergraduate training. In all of these areas Austrian universities feature practices which are not or only partly aligned with international best practice.