FWF Austrian Science Fund

The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) is Austria's central funding organization for basic research.

The purpose of the FWF is to support the ongoing development of Austrian science and basic research at a high international level. In this way, the FWF makes a significant contribution to cultural development, to the advancement of our knowledge-based society, and thus to the creation of value and wealth in Austria.
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Pascale Ehrenfreund to become FWF President

The FWF's Assembly of Delegates has elected Pascale Ehrenfreund as the organisation's next president. In addition, the three vice-presidents on the FWF's Executive board have been elected. The new board will take over for the team led by Christoph Kratky in September 2013.

In today's meeting of the FWF's Assembly of Delegates, Pascale Ehrenfreund and her team of vice-presidents were chosen for the FWF's new Executive Board in a much-anticipated election. The members of the new Executive Board are as follows:

FWF President
Pascale Ehrenfreund

Vice-Presidents
Christine Mannhalter 
Vice-President for Life Sciences

Hermann Hellwagner
Vice-President for Natural and Technical Sciences

Alan Scott
Vice-President for Humanities and Social Sciences

In the election, the Assembly of Delegates - which comprises representatives from Austria’s 21 universities under the Austrian Universities Act 2002, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, four representatives from non-university research institutions as well as delegates from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research (BMWF) and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) - chose the FWF’s new leader from among the three candidates nominated by the FWF Supervisory Board. Ehrenfreund won the election with an overwhelming majority of votes and will therefore become the first female president in the history of the FWF. In addition to Ehrenfreund, the following vice-presidents were elected: Christine Mannhalter (Medical University of Vienna), Hermann Hellwagner (University of Klagenfurt) and Alan Scott (University of Innsbruck).

"I’d like to extend my heartiest congratulations to the new Executive Board, and I wish Pascale Ehrenfreund and her team all the best for the challenges ahead. At the same time, I’d like to thank all the people in the scientific community in Austria and abroad who have submitted their applications to the FWF, thus showing their willingness to take responsibility for a decisive part of the Austrian science and research system. The FWF plays a key role in the development of the Austrian science and research landscape, and these activities can only be carried out appropriately with the help of outstanding figures from the science and research community," noted Christoph Kratky on the choices made by the Assembly of Delegates.

The current FWF Executive Board will hand its official activities over to Pascale Ehrenfreund and her team in September 2013.

> Brief-CV Pascale Ehrenfreund

> Brief CV Christine Mannhalter
> Brief CV Hermann Hellwagner
> Brief CV Alan Scott

Vienna, June 6th, 2013

Inquiries
FWF, Stefan Bernhardt

Use of this photo for editorial purposes is free of charge, subject to attribution: FWF Der Wissenschaftsfonds/APA-Fotoservice/Hautzinger