The Wissenschaft Zukunft Preis 2024 is awarded in two categories and is funded with the following prize money:

• Master-/Diplomarbeit              € 1.500,-
• Dissertation/PhD-Thesis          € 3.000,-

Three master's theses and two PhD theses will be awarded. The winners will be announced and awarded at the Science Gala of the Province of Lower Austria in autumn 2024.

Submissions can only be made online at preise.einreichsystem.at.

Only complete, timely and formally correct submissions with relevance to Lower Austria will be forwarded to the jury for review.

General requirements

There is no age limit.

• There is no thematic restriction. Papers from all scientific disciplines can be submitted.
• Submissions can only be made online. The submission must be complete, on time and formally correct.
• There must be a comprehensible reference to Lower Austria. The criteria for the reference to Lower Austria are explained below.
• The final papers must fulfil the following criteria:
  • The thesis was assessed with "Very good" (or equivalent).
  • The degree programme in the context of which the thesis was written - an FH degree programme or regular university degree programme at an Austrian or European higher education institution - must have already been successfully completed.
  • The submission or the thesis may be written in German or English.
  • The thesis must not be older than three years, i.e. it must have been approved in 2021 at the earliest.
  • Only theses from a first degree programme (first Master's degree and first doctorate) are accepted.
• Theses with a blocking notice are not accepted.

Criteria for NÖ reference

The reference to Lower Austria is given if at least one of the four criteria listed below is fulfilled.

• The thesis was written at a Lower Austrian research institute / in the course of studies in Lower Austria.
• The research dealt with in the thesis is directly related to Lower Austria or originated from the "Themenbörse Abschlussarbeiten". www.gff-noe.at/themenboerse
• The thesis was written in the context of a cooperation with companies in Lower Austria.
• Part of the research was carried out in Lower Austria. This means that at least 50% of the surveys, questionnaires, etc. were conducted in Lower Austria.

For further details on the funding requirements, the review process and the review criteria, please refer to the funding guidelines below (available in October 2023).

Please note that if the Science Prize of the Province of Lower Austria is awarded, the Wissenschaft Zukunft Prize will no longer be awarded.