(Vienna, 28 October 2026) – Ten Austrian life science research organisations, including the Medical University of Vienna, today announced SYNAPSE Austria, a joint platform to accelerate the translation of research into new medicines, medical technologies and start-ups. SYNAPSE Austria will bring together expertise, facilities, and external networks that are currently distributed across the partnering institutions. The SYNAPSE Austria office, which will be hosted by the MedUni Vienna, will also be a single point of contact for venture capitalists and institutional investors to identify potential investment opportunities across the ten partner institutions.
The founding partners of the platform are leading players in Austria’s life science research field: CeMM (Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences), IMBA (Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences), IMP (Research Institute of Molecular Pathology), ISTA (Institute of Science and Technology Austria) and XISTA, the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft, the Medical University of Vienna, TU Wien, BOKU University, the University of Vienna, and the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna.
SYNAPSE Austria will focus on four areas:
Connect expertise and facilities.
Map capabilities across the partner institutions so that researchers can identify relevant expertise, facilities and infrastructure beyond their own institution.
Assess projects for translational potential.
Jointly evaluate projects for their potential to develop into therapies, technologies or companies, drawing on a shared network of mentors, advisers and entrepreneurs-in-residence.
Coordinate engagement with industry and investors.
Provide a single point of contact through which pharmaceutical companies and investors can identify relevant projects and research expertise across the partners.
Develop funding opportunities.
Work with funding agencies and other partners to broaden access to funding for translational projects.
A dedicated director will lead SYNAPSE Austria from an office that will start operations before the end of 2026, and which will be hosted by Medical University of Vienna. The platform will complement the work of the partners’ existing technology transfer offices rather than replace them. Initially bringing together institutions in the Vienna region, SYNAPSE Austria is open to additional partners and intends to expand across Austria.
Building on Vienna’s life science research base
SYNAPSE Austria builds on the Vienna region’s established life science research base, with more than 750 life science organisations, employing over 49,000 people and generating EUR 22.7 billion in revenue. The Vienna Life Science Report 2024/2025 recorded around 8,800 scientific publications from the city’s research and education institutions and more than 34,000 life science students. Hubs such as the Vienna BioCenter, the medical campus around the Medical University of Vienna, and ISTA in Klosterneuburg attract top researchers from around the world.
SYNAPSE Austria builds on both the scientific excellence that is already present, and experience with cross-institutional activities such as the xbio entrepreneurship training programme. With SYNAPSE Austria, the ten partners commit to bundling their strengths to reach critical mass in translation.
Speaking on the launch of the initiative, both initiators emphasized the significance of the collaboration:
"Austria has the scientific strength to build the next generation of life science companies. SYNAPSE Austria will help turn that potential into opportunities that entrepreneurs, industry and investors can act on, giving promising discoveries a clearer path towards development and, ultimately, patient benefit. " – Markus Wanko, Managing Director, XISTA
"SYNAPSE Austria brings together the scientific excellence, clinical expertise and shared ambition of ten research institutions. By connecting these strengths, we can help promising discoveries take the next steps towards new therapies and medical technologies, with the ultimate goal of improving patients’ lives." – Michaela Fritz, Vice Rector for Research and Innovation, Medical University Vienna