Klaus Pöttinger supports IST Austria through scholarships

This morning on October 8, 2015, Thomas Henzinger, president of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), presented Klaus Pöttinger as a further donor. The co-owner of Pöttinger Agricultural Technology (Upper Austria) will support IST Austria with € 200’000 over a period of three years for IST Austria’s scholarship program. The total amount of third party funding attracted by IST Austria from corporate and private donors thus now equals 17.5 million Euros.

Klaus Pöttinger: „Austrians are proud of the scientific and technical advances of the past. It is our generation’s task to provide the future generation with the opportunity to further develop the scientific and technical innovations of the future – and thus to strengthen pride in these achievements. This is the reason why I have made the decision to support IST Austria’s doctoral program as a private donor”.

Thomas Henzinger, president of IST Austria: “We are incredibly grateful to Klaus Pöttinger. It is especially through scholarships that these young talents will be purposefully supported. It is they who will conduct research into the next big scientific issues of the future. Together with Klaus Pöttinger, through these scholarships, we demonstrate that top performance can be delivered in Austria – both within the industrial sector as well as in science. At the basis of this performance are excellence and independence”.

Through the Pöttinger scholarships graduate students Feyza Nur Arslan, Matilda Peruzzo, and Priscila Pichani Hirschfeld will be funded for three years. A panel consisting of IST Austria postdocs from five different areas had been tasked with identifying particularly promising doctoral students. All graduate students’ applications were reviewed, with the statements of purpose, letters of recommendation, and academic transcripts serving as the basis for the decision. The Pöttinger Scholars have begun their studies in this year’s class of IST Austria’s graduate school which started in September.

As of the beginning of September IST Austria provides support to donors through the specifically created “Stakeholder Relations” unit headed by Oliver Lehmann. It is one of this unit’s core functions to inform existing and potential donors about the new taxation benefits and foundation law optimizations, as well as to develop new support concepts. IST Austria is required by law to actively raise a substantial amount of its budget through third party funds, which will be doubled from federal funds. Since 2007 around 50 million Euros have been raised through scientific research funds, and around 17.5 million Euros through corporate and private donors.