Fight for women's promotion: Holzleitner promises stability and more!

Fight for women's promotion: Holzleitner promises stability and more!

Österreich - Minister of women Eva-Maria Holzleitner spoke in an interview that there will be no cuts in the budget for the women's area. In view of the political situation in other countries, especially the USA, she explained this. Holzleitner emphasizes that the funding for the women's area will remain in Austria and that even a slight increase is planned for 2026. In addition, the agreements in the field of science are secured by 2027. The minister also sees herself in a responsible role in positioning Austria as an attractive location for US researchers, while criticizing current development in the United States under the Trump administration, where government aids are drastically shortened.

In the United States, universities are faced with significant financial cuts. The government is planning savings that will amount to $ four billion a year. This also affects the national health institutes (NIH) who have announced that they can cut their grants. These cuts also affect the necessary indirect costs that contribute significantly to the financing of research institutions. So far, institutes have been able to apply for up to 60 percent of their indirect costs, now the contribution is capped to a maximum of 15 percent. In the professional world, warning is warned of the negative effects of these cuts, which in particular could endanger cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research.

The challenges in science

researchers like Jeffrey Flier from Harvard University and Matt Owens, the chairman of the interests of the US research institutions, express profound concerns about the harmful effects of budgetary cuts on biomedical research. Flier describes the measures as harmful to the institutions, while Owens fears paralysis of life -saving research and innovation. The recent developments in the United States are in a sharp contrast to the efforts in Austria, where Holzleitner strives to promote structural equality measures in science.

In Germany there are a variety of funding programs that aim to support scientists and to promote equality in science. This includes the professor program that offers universities incentives to implement equality -promoting measures. Programs such as "Women in EU Research" or the WIM research project to the visibility of scientists in the media also make a significant contribution to promoting women in science.

Holzleitner also speaks openly about the "red problem bears" in social democracy and emphasizes that the focus should be on the content of content and not on ideology. Her views reflect a strong positioning of social democracy in relation to social justice and equality. In the middle of global challenges, she sees Austria as a safe port for scientists to address the continuing problems of research in international comparison.