Science Education in Austria

Written By Hannes Richter

Beacon Projects at the Interface of Education and Research

Observing through the microscope © Pexels (CC0)

“This project showed me for the first time that I also have abilities” – With these enthusiastic words a child from a new secondary school in Austria describes its increased self-confidence in its own abilities thanks to the participation in one of the Austrian government’s science education initiatives. The positive effects on students from educationally disadvantaged families are manifold and range from insights into scientific work and the improvement of skills such as critical thinking to helping young people to decide about a future career. But this is not all. What remains in the minds of children and youngsters above all are unique experiences and fond memories of their journeys into the world of science.

For many years it has been a major concern of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) to introduce children and youngsters to scientific topics in an innovative way and to arouse enthusiasm for scientific work in them. Although research influences a major part of everyday life, this awareness is often lacking in society. It is therefore not surprising that, according to the European Commission’s Eurobarometer survey of 2013, Austrians were relatively skeptical about science. The COVID-19 pandemic clearly shows how important trust in science is, while researchers and scientists have also become an integral part of media coverage of the pandemic.

According to a survey released in 2020 in Germany, trust has increased due to Corona. This is probably the case in many countries. In order to effectively counteract science skepticism, science education in Austria has been targeting the youngest citizens for years. The BMBWF has three goals: (1) to highlight the added value of science, (2) to facilitate access to research and universities, and (3) to promote young researchers. It therefore supports numerous initiatives and programs at the interface between education and research. This gives children and youngsters a broad range of opportunities to get to know research in their leisure time and at school and to work on specific projects.

Since 2004, children’s and youth universities in Austria have been successfully established. This development has been supported by the BMBWF on one hand by recognizing children’s and youth universities as pre-university institutions for the promotion of young talent within the framework of the university performance agreements. On the other hand, the BMBWF’s funding program for children’s and youth universities fits into the institutional framework in an ideal way and systematically provides impulses in both strategic and technical terms. Since 2017, a total of 600,000 euros in funding per year has been available.

What happens at these children’s and youth universities? The many different projects enable children and young people between the ages of five and 18 to get to know the world of science and research in a way that is age-appropriate and provides impulses for their choice of education and career. Every year around 40,000 participants join activities including attending lectures, camps, workshops, and seminars in the lecture halls, laboratories, and seminar rooms of the participating universities.

These support measures are aimed in particular at making the academic system socially permeable. An important pillar of the program is inclusion, which is why care is taken to address children and young people from educationally disadvantaged classes, children and young people with a migration background, and children and young people in need of assistance. Particular attention is paid to equal opportunities. To prevent exclusion and discrimination, systematic measures and strategies are fostered that promote the development potential of all genders and counteract role stereotypes. In addition to permanent offers at the bigger university locations, more and more outreach services are offered in rural areas as well. These are intended to address children and young people especially from peripheral regions.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the majority of these programs had to be offered in a digital format in 2020. However, as the development of the pandemic in the summer permitted presence formats combined with a strong demand for holiday care for children, the BMBWF created a new format for scientific holiday care in cooperation with the universities: Science Holidays – spend a holiday in the world of science. The children participating in this segment were able – combined with games and fun – to get a taste of university life, have their questions answered by researchers, and immerse themselves in the world of science in an imaginative way. Due to the success and the great demand the children’s and youth universities will henceforth be supplemented by the extension module of Holiday care with a scientific claim in Austria. In addition to the children’s and youth universities, the BMBWF has also been funding interface programs for networking between schools and universities.

In order to establish long-term cooperation between science and schools, and to strengthen networking activities, the BMBWF launched the research funding program Sparkling Science in 2007, which was implemented by the OeAD (Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research). The aim was to help break down the structural barriers between the education and science systems in Austria. Over its twelve-year run during which the program ran, researchers worked side by side with students on current scientific questions. With a total budget of around €35 million, a total of 299 high-quality research projects involving more than 100,000 children and young people, almost 2,600 (future) teachers, and around 4,300 researchers and students were funded. The research approach applied here is also called Citizen Science and is becoming increasingly popular in Austria and around the world.

In 2015, the BMBWF took an additional step in science education with the innovative format of the Citizen Science Award – also managed by the OeAD. Every year, from April to early July, school classes from all over Austria compete in the Citizen Science Award. The best of them are awarded cash prizes for their scientific commitment. Students can take part in selected research projects and help scientists answer exciting research questions. Where do wild animals live in Vienna? What is the water quality of Austria’s rivers? How is language used in Austria? In order to find answers to these and other questions, the participants are asked to collect data, fill in questionnaires and much more.

Another initiative at the interface between schools and research is the funding program Creation of digital teaching and learning materials using citizen science methods. Since 2017, learning materials have been adapted, tested, and developed together with pupils and teachers in a systematic way to meet the users’ needs. The program, which is coordinated by the OeAD, has been endowed with a total of €825,000 by the Foundation for Innovation in Education. In 21 projects, learners, teachers, and interested persons have been directly involved in the creation of digital teaching materials. This creates a systematic dialogue between science, schools and society that allows expertise and needs of the users to be incorporated into the development of the materials. The first few end products of this innovative program were already made available for use on a learning platform of the BMBWF during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to these successful programs, a major Austrian school competition for innovative ideas is held every year. Jugend Innovativ (“Innovative youth”) is carried out on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Digital and Economic Affairs and the BMBWF. With a focus on digitalization, the Foundation for Innovation in Education offered a special prize for “Digital Education” and two public’s choice awards together with Austria Wirtschaftsservice and the OeAD in 2018 and 2019. A total of 869 innovative projects were submitted in these two years. The fact that almost 3,000 people took part in the competition shows the great enthusiasm of young people for such initiatives in Austria. It has been a great concern to Austria to intertwine education and research more closely and to use common potentials. The many and varied initiatives of the BMBWF, the OeAD and the Foundation for Innovation in Education continuously promote development, bring young people in touch with science and research as early as possible, and anchor science education in society in a sustainable manner.

Best Practice: Sparkling Science Project “The end of (my) childhood? Rescue of Jewish children from Austria 1938-41.”

Student workshop with a Kindertransport survivor.
© BMBWF/MERETHE AAGAARD JENSEN

The project took historical research on the rescue of approximately 2,800 Jewish children and youths via so-called Kindertransporte (Refugee Children Movement) from Austria during the years 1938-41 as a starting point to explore the question of definitions and criteria of childhood. In workshops, the students received an introduction to historical and social science research, developmental psychology, as well as analysis of autobiographical texts, and oral history methods. In discussions with former Kindertransport children, in workshops, and at a final conference, the participants were able to put the interview and presentation techniques they had learned into practice.

http://www.sparklingscience.at/en

Further information:

Hannes Richter
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