Ideas with Impact

More and more companies are moving their software systems to the cloud. The “living models” of Txture, a spin-off from the University of Innsbruck, help facilitate this complex process. In the course of FWF projects, computer scientist Ruth Breu was able to dive into the development of “digital maps for IT systems” early on. Drawing on this expertise, she co-founded the spin-off Txture, which was eventually acquired by IBM. This consolidation also benefits Innsbruck as an IT location: Txtures’ team of globally active specialists with strong ties to the University of Innsbruck is set to grow.

Austrian archaeologists have been studying the ancient trading city of Velia for over 50 years. Verena Gassner was head of the excavations in southern Italy for years, focusing on aspects such as methodological innovations and urban planning analyses. The long-standing continuity of Austrian involvement in Velia has had many positive effects, including providing training to young researchers and strengthening the local economy.

Controlling large quantum computing systems presents developers with major technical challenges. As part of his basic research funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the Tyrolean quantum researcher Wolfgang Lechner came up with the idea of a new type of architecture for quantum computers, in which the complex networking of many qubits – a frequent stumbling block in quantum computing – becomes a thing of the past. The spin-off company ParityQC, where Lechner and his team are applying the technology, has rapidly become a success story.

For many years, Birgit Mitter has investigated microorganisms living in plants. She and her colleagues active in this field of basic research have developed a machine that places microorganisms in plant seeds in a controlled manner. This technology harbors great potential for industrial use and eventually became the foundation of the spin-off Ensemo. It offers a way to support crop plants that does not rely on chemical or environmentally harmful fertilizers or pesticides.

The Vienna-based company NovoArc has developed a technology that not only facilitates the transport and storage of drugs but also significantly improves their bioavailability in the human body. For this achievement, the company received the prestigious PHÖNIX award. The team’s next goal is to develop an mRNA vaccine that can be administered as a pill to make injections redundant.

The drug thalidomide, which was approved in 1957 and caused severe fetal deformities, went down in history as a medical catastrophe. Researchers have now discovered that the mechanism behind this fatal effect holds the key to a whole class of new therapeutic drugs. Georg Winter is a leading researcher on a type of artificial marker known as glue degraders, which can specifically switch off disease-causing proteins. The spin-off company Proxygen is continuing with the approach and applying it to drug development – well-known pharmaceutical companies are already on board.