The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) supports international cooperation of Austrian basic research with a set of dedicated funding instruments as well as procedures optimised for international cooperation. We evaluated the appropriateness, efficiency and effectiveness of the portfolio with a mixed set of quantitative and qualitative methods. It was the first time that a major research council commissioned an evaluation focusing explicitly on its international cooperation support instruments. Given the increasing internationalisation of scientific research, such an endeavour seems to be particularly timely and relevant.
We implemented this project together with the University of Manchester, the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) as well as Digital Science. Results are available at FWF’s website. The final report ist public and also attached here.
