Research

We give our scientists space to think in new ways.

Together with our partners, we operate Ludwig Boltzmann Institutes (LBI) and Ludwig Boltzmann Research Groups (FG) at various locations in Austria.

These institutions are the result of a strict selection process, initiate new research topics, can react flexibly to current social and scientific developments and conduct pioneering interdisciplinary research.

Institutes

  • Arthritis and Rehabilitation

    The research programme addresses issues of clinical and translational research in the fields of rheumatology, balneology and rehabilitation. The focus of clinical research is on the two main rheumatic diseases, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). Translational research focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of balneotherapy, especially sulphur spa therapy and nuclear magnetic resonance therapy, as few studies have addressed these topics and the scientific evidence for the efficacy of these therapies is sparse and still doubtful.

  • Cardiovascular Research

    The LBI for Cardiovascular Research focuses on interdisciplinary research into therapies for cardiovascular diseases. In a long tradition since the late 1960s, surgeons, physicians, biomedical engineers and chemists as well as experimental physicians work closely together in translational research. We strongly believe that successful biomedical research in cardiovascular medicine requires an integrated and interdisciplinary approach that favours the translation of scientific discoveries into practical applications. The LBI is committed to conducting internationally competitive research in this integrated and interdisciplinary manner by focusing on pathophysiology, diagnosis and therapy in the field of cardiovascular medicine.

  • Digital Health and Patient Safety

    The goals of the LBI Digital Health and Patient Safety (LBI DHPS) are to avoid medical errors, to strengthen patents and health care professionals and to initiate new digital processes through the digitalisation of medicine. The institute unites different disciplines, from medicine to law and social sciences to psychology, and thus spans a large arc under which various projects find space, which are then worked on holistically. New technologies and open-innovation-in-science approaches make it possible to look at current issues from a new perspective. Best-practice solutions are to be developed and evaluated together with experts, stakeholders and politicians in the health sector as well as those working in care. Thus, the LBI DHPS is a contact point and hub for questions on digital health and patient safety.

    Harald Willschke, Maria Kletecka-Pulker, Elisabeth Klager
  • Digital Health and Prevention

    The LBI Digital Health and Prevention has set itself the goal of achieving better sustainability of lifestyle changes. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) continue to be the most common cause of death worldwide and are also responsible for most deaths in Austria. The aim of the institute is to support HKE patients in the long term, sustainably, efficiently and effectively in making health-promoting lifestyle changes using new digital technologies.

    Josef Niebauer, Andreas Stainer-Hochgatterer, Jan David Smeddinck
  • Digital History

    The aim of the LBI for Digital History (LBIDH) is the scientific research of history and society using and developing digital technologies. The main areas of work include visual history, urban studies and urban history, cultural studies, Austrian history in the 20th and 21st centuries, and Holocaust studies.

  • Fundamental and Human Rights

    The LBI for Fundamental and Human Rights (LBI-GMR) is the leading human rights institute in Austria. It is committed to both basic and applied research and ensures a sustainable social impact of its work in cooperation with partners from academia, civil society, the public sector and the private sector.

    Michael Lysander Fremuth, Patricia Mussi-Mailer
  • Hematology and Onkology

    The LBI for Haematology and Oncology with its focus on tumour stem cell research is a successful example of an interdisciplinary focus on a central topic. Scientific expertise and resources from different research groups flow into the project. Working groups of physicians and basic researchers from different disciplines are involved. The resulting synergies will optimise tumour stem cell research.

  • Lung Health

    Respiratory diseases are accounting for 3.9 million annual deaths worldwide, which makes them – beside cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes – one of the ‘Big Four’ of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) targeted by the WHO Global Action Plan for Control and Prevention of NCDs. To effectively combat respiratory diseases, it is crucially important to gain a thorough understanding of the complex interrelations between genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors guiding the development of the healthy and the diseased lung.
    With its extensive research programs, the LBI for Lung Health aims to contribute to this field of research. The close collaboration of physicians, scientists and clinical staff from different disciplines enables high-quality, interdisciplinary research. Through the teaching activities of our researchers at the Sigmund Freud University and the Medical University of Vienna, the training of future physicians is another important cornerstone of the institute. This makes it possible to bring current knowledge closer to young colleagues and to support them in their scientific work with practical experience. Due to a number of international cooperations, such as the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, the LBI for Lung Health also offers the possibility of a scientific research doctorate, which is completed with a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.).

    Marie-Kathrin Breier
  • Lung Vascular Research

    The LBI for Lung Vascular Research has substantial expertise in the basic mechanisms of pulmonary vascular constriction and remodelling, combined with a broad and profound clinical background. We aim to provide a significant contribution to early recognition of pulmonary vascular diseases including pulmonary hypertension via novel and non-invasive methods and to develop innovative therapeutic strategies for an improved prognosis and better quality of life for the victims of this serious disease. The integrative, multidisciplinary and translational structure of the LBI-LVR allows it to uncover underlying molecular pathways, identify distinct targets for reverse-remodelling therapy, foster drug development based on these targets, and prove these new treatment options in preclinical and clinical proof-of-concept trials.

  • Nanovesicular Precision Medicine at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg

    Univ. Prof. Dr. Nicole Meisner-Kober
  • Neo-Latin Studies

    The LBI for Neo-Latin Studies is dedicated to the study of the “Neo-Latin” Latin literature of the modern era. The focus is on the centuries from around 1400-1800. During this period, Latin once again flourished as an international lingua franca, in a sense as the English of the time. Far more Latin texts have survived from this period than from Antiquity and the Middle Ages combined. Nevertheless, Neo-Latin literature is considered the most poorly researched major literature in Europe. The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute is one of the first research institutions in the world to devote itself entirely to this subject. It focuses exemplarily on aspects of education, natural science and intellectual history, in which Neo-Latin literature has made an important contribution to major contemporary issues and thus helped to shape the development of Europe.

  • Network Medicine at the University of Vienna

    Univ. Prof. Dr. Jörg Menche
  • Osteology

    The mission of the LBI for Osteology (LBIO) is to achieve the highest level of scientific excellence through basic and clinical research and by training young scientists in clinical and experimental osteology and developing their careers in a gender-neutral manner. LBIO’s goal is to improve patient care. To achieve this goal, the study of bone is carried out at all hierarchical levels through a unique combination of techniques worldwide.

    The aim is to elucidate the mechanisms underlying basic bone function and musculoskeletal diseases, leading to the discovery and development of effective strategies for diagnosis, prevention and treatment. To achieve this goal, LBIO basic scientists and clinicians, together with scientists from the Biomaterials Department of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam, as well as national and international partners and industry, are using LBIO’s globally unique expertise and available combination of analytical approaches to study bone at all hierarchical levels. The available combination of instruments enables analyses from a clinical, cell and molecular biological, physicochemical and material science perspective.

  • Rehabilitation Research

    The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rehabilitation Research is dedicated to researching existing
    existing and the development of novel therapeutic concepts in rehabilitation.

  • Research on Consequences of War

    Since its foundation in 1993, the LBI for Research on the Consequences of War (BIK) has been studying the effects of wars and conflicts of the 20th century. This includes state, societal, economic as well as social, humanitarian and cultural consequences. At the Graz, Vienna and Raabs locations, the current research projects are assigned to the following four programme lines: “World Wars”, “Cold War”, “Children of War” and “Migration”. In addition to research, the main pillars of the BIK are communication in the form of publications, conferences or media reports, as well as service for enquiries in connection with prisoners of war in the Soviet Union.

  • Traumatology, the Research Center in Cooperation with AUVA

    The LBI for Traumatology, the Research Center in Cooperation with AUVA aims to improve diagnostic and therapeutic measures in trauma surgery and intensive care medicine. This is done on the one hand through its own research projects in the field of tissue regeneration, but also by evaluating international research results and their practical application within AUVA through clinical studies and further training. In addition, the research centre is involved in numerous Austrian and European research projects. Through interdisciplinary cooperation, the institute is involved in many fields of human medicine.

Research Groups

  • SHoW – Senescence and Healing of Wounds

    SHoW, short for Senescence and Healing of Wounds, is a transdisciplinary group dealing with ageing and wound healing. What makes it special is that the topic is tackled from different angles. SHoW includes a biomedical research group as well as a social science project and a co-creation team. In addition, we also deal with fundamental questions about science itself and its interactions with the social and societal environment.

    Heinz Redl, Raffael Himmelsbach

Former Research Units

The LBG has been providing important impulses for translational research in Austria for 60 years.

We constantly take up new topics and experiment with new methods for finding topics and organising research. In the process, the LBG has repeatedly put itself and its activities to the test and developed further. These changes in its tasks and portfolio have been an essential feature since its foundation.

With socially relevant research, a strong focus on innovation and its structure as a supporting institution with great leverage, the LBG had earned an important place in the Austrian scientific landscape in the second half of the 20th century. After intensive evaluation and reorientation in terms of content towards human medicine and related subject areas as well as humanities, social and cultural sciences, in 2006 the number of Ludwig Boltzmann Institutes was reduced during a comprehensive restructuring to 18 institutes and eight so-called custers; at the same time, the call for tenders for new institutes and meanwhile also new research groups began again.

Since this restructuring, newly founded institutes have a limited term with interim evaluation. The institutes that already existed at that time are not limited in time, but their continuation is decided after regular evaluations based on their research performance. All LBIs are accompanied by a scientific advisory board, which supports them in carrying out their research programme at an internationally competitive level.

You can find an overview of the previous research units here (in German)

Discontinued research units (in German)

Quality Assurance

To ensure consistently high-quality research, the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft regularly evaluates its research units.

These evaluations are carried out by independent commissions consisting of international experts from the respective scientific field as well as specialists in scientific evaluation and research management. This ensures that the highest standards are maintained and first-class research results are produced.

Ongoing quality control 2021

  • Number of SAB committees 18
  • Number of SAB members 81
  • Facilities evaluated 5