Annual Report 2025 - Report - Page 15
Greetings From Austria
Strengthening Science Through
Global Exchange
Eva-Maria Holzleitner, Austrian Federal Minister for Women,
Science and Research
With the participating Nobel Laureates and German Minister
colleagues
These annual meetings are a unique and
exceptional opportunity for young scientists to meet and discuss their ideas with the
most eminent scientists who have been honoured with a
Nobel Prize. I am therefore pleased to announce that we
will continue our long-term partnership with the Lindau
Nobel Laureate Meetings.
This will allow young Austrian talents to participate
in the Lindau Meetings in the coming years. In order to
inspire and promote young talents, we must provide
them with the right opportunities, such as here in Lindau.
Hence, I fully share the mission of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings to strengthen international exchange and
cooperation to jointly push the limits of our knowledge.
Austria has one of the highest R&D intensities in
the EU and worldwide, with 3.3 percent of our national
gross domestic product. Because we know that a dynamic
higher education and research system is not only a major
driver of our economy and prosperity – it is also an important pillar of a liberal democracy. Democracy thrives
on international openness and exchange, and democracy
thrives on forward thinking research.
I am convinced that responsibility goes both ways. We
need an open society to build the landscape for critical research. But at the same time, I see the scientific community
also having a responsibility to share its findings and initiate discourse within society to create a more just world.
Therefore, we are committed to building an attractive and
internationally competitive place for researchers from all
over the world, in Austria, and right across Europe in fact.
We need trusted partners, reliable framework conditions, and intellectual freedom to work together successfully. However, this is no longer guaranteed and the freedom of science and academic research is under pressure
in more and more countries.
We need to raise our voices. For those researchers who
fear oppression and threats. This is why we, as the Austrian Government, stand in solidarity with those whose
scientific work and studies are at risk.
We are committed to international scientific collaboration, exchange, and mobility, and today’s meeting exemplifies this spirit by bringing together distinguished and
young researchers from around the world.
13
