The Medical University of Vienna cooperates with other universities and academic institutions in the areas of research and teaching. A few selected instances of cooperation will be described below.
National Cooperation
Knowledge Transfer Centers and IPR Exploitation
In this virtual center, coordinated as a consortium by MedUni Vienna, the focus lies on linking the technology transfer departments of the Vienna-based universities with non-university research institutions as well as increased networking with the business world.
An increased cooperation and coordination as well as a concerted setting of a focus and profile in the WTZ Ost (the partners in the consortium are: the Medical University of Vienna, the Vienna University of Technology, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, the University of Vienna, the Vienna University of Economics and Business, the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, the University of Applied Arts Vienna) are meant to create ideal conditions for an efficient transfer of research results to the business world and society.
Apart from the classic transfer of biotech and medtech technologies, MedUni Vienna also focuses on involving those universities with experience in knowledge transfer in the domain of humanities, social sciences and cultural studies.
University of Vienna
University of Vienna| Max Perutz Labs Vienna:
The Max Perutz Labs Vienna are a joint research and training center of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna on the Vienna Biocenter Campus. At the Max Perutz Labs Vienna around 500 scientists work on fundamental research in over 60 research groups in the field of molecular biology. The Max Perutz Labs Vienna also houses the joint Chair in Bioinformatics. Both universities operate a Campus Science Support Facility (CSF) GmbH called "Vision 2020" at the Biozentrum Bohrgasse.
Inter-University Cluster Projects:
In December 2020, four new joint cluster projects were approved as a bridge in research between the two universities. Topics ranging from anorexia in adolescence to the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic will be addressed.
Joint Courses and Master's Degrees:
In addition, there is cooperation in the form of the joint university courses "Health Care Management", "Public Health" and "Patient Safety". Another cooperation takes place in the framework of the Master's degree programme "Medical Informatics".
Ethics and Law:
The MedUni Vienna is involved in the Institute of Law and Ethics in Medicine at the University of Vienna in the form of a cooperation agreement.
Imaging Platforms:
- MedUni Vienna, the University of Vienna and the University of Veterinary Medicine establish together an inter-disciplinary translational brain research cluster with high-field MR (partially funded by the Fed. Ministry of Research bmwfw).
- MedUni Vienna and the University of Vienna aim to strengthen the inter-university cooperation in the fields of imaging, data science and cognitive sciences. Based on a multitude of successful projects in these fields of research, the need for investment in infrastructure has risen dramatically in the last few years. In the project "IT-Infrastructure and Eye Tracker" (partially funded by the bmwfw) IT infrastructure for the adequate processing and backup of the huge amount of data arising in these areas is to be purchased and set up for multi-modal projects.
Joint Core Facilities:
- Joint Metabolome Center
- Joint Microbiome Center: provides services such as consulting on experimental design of microbiome studies, preparation and sequencing of microbiome samples, sequence analysis and customized bioinformatics and biostatistics support and interpretation.
VetMedUni Vienna | Messerli Research Institute
The members of this institute work on the relationship between humans and animals and its basis in the areas of cognition and behavior of animals, comparative medicine and ethics.
University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna and LBG Bio-Models:
For MedUni Vienna a focus lies on bio-models for cancer. For this a chair will be established jointly, to be funded by the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (LBG).
Vienna University of Technology
The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences
Medical University Innsbruck | Medical University Graz
Children's Research Network of the three MedUnis:
Pharmig and the Fed. Ministry of Health (BMG initiated a network for the implementation of clinical studies on children (Children's Research Network, OKIDS). MedUni Vienna will establish a paediatric module in the framework of the Koordinationszentrum für Klinische Studien (Clinical Trials Coordination Centre). A study nurse funded by the network will be hired and made available to the paediatric clinics for projects.
Biobank Cooperation of the Austrian MedUnis with the Coordination Office for a National Biobank Network at the MedUni Graz:
The Austrian Biobank Network within BBMRI (BBMRI-AT) is administrated by all three MedUnis as a central national large research infrastructure. With the synergistic integration of the existing structures and those that need to be built in the area of Biobanking, the Austrian share in this infrastructure project that now consists of over 14 countries within the EU will become even more visible. Through the national integration, not only standardisation and synergies are being advanced, but the Austria or Europe-wide coordination of sample use will be optimised, which in turn generates an added value for the research based upon this.
Networking Project Neuroscience:
The three Medical Universities create an Austria-wide research network for multiple sclerosis in the framework of the "BIG-WIG MS" project, which makes it possible to further translational clinical research in the cooperation between the participating universities in the immediate future and to play a part in large international research networking projects. Apart from a strengthening of the research performance in the area of clinical neuroscience in Austria the projected improvement of the infrastructure and the networking between the clinics and the institutes will lead to better clinical care for MS patients.
Teaching:
- The admission procedures for the three public Medical Universities are to be standardised.
- A joint examination question-database for different examination formats will be developed.
- Project "joint assessment database"
- With the Medical University Graz a joint "Prosthetics" programme has been established.
FH Campus Vienna
Austrian Academy of Sciences | CeMM
Located right on the Campus of the Medical University of Vienna, the CeMM is ideally positioned for its mission called "From the Clinic to the Clinic". The research areas focus on the development of innovative diagnostic options and therapies in the area of cancer, immune diseases and infectious diseases.
In the area of myeloproliferative diseases a joint special research department is to be established together with the CCC, the CeMM and the LBI Oncology.
International Cooperation
The international cooperation activity, MedUni Vienna, shows a continuously growing trend. Currently, nearly 60% of all publications are based on international cooperation.
Joint Publications (2009-2014)
The international activities and the network of MedUni are reflected by the number of joint publications (2009-2014):
- Universität München, Germany (362)
- Harvard University, USA (354)
- Charité - Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Germany (332)
- Karolinska Institutet, Sweden (321)
- Universität Heidelberg, Germany (263)
- Universität Zürich, Switzerland (243)
- Universiteit van Amsterdam, Netherlands (232)
- Universität Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany (229)
- Universität Bern, Switzerland (225)
- Hannover Medical School, Germany (213)