Austria is world renowned for its excellent higher education system and cutting-edge research facilities.
Yet questions have been raised over whether the country has too many universities.
A new expert report, led by economist Jürgen Janger from the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (Wifo), says Austria's population and student numbers do not justify the 77 higher education institutions.
The report points to other European countries that perform well in innovation and university rankings but have fewer universities than Austria.
The authors advise that some universities merge, arguing that larger institutions would have advantages in providing modern research infrastructure and commercialising research findings.
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They also expect that merging universities would have a positive impact on performance in global rankings, particularly as the greater visibility of large universities is rewarded.
Universities hit back
As you can imagine, reaction to this report has been mixed.
The paper is aimed primarily at the 23 public universities that could realistically consider mergers.
At the top of the list is calls to combine the three medical universities in Vienna, Graz and Innsbruck with their respective main universities.
However, the Medical University of Graz has rejected the idea. The institution told told Austria's der Standard that it sees "no advantages" in integrating with the University of Graz, arguing that the split in 2004 has proven its worth.
From the Medical University’s perspective, it is the specialised profile that ensures high visibility. "This brand-building strengthens our competitiveness and appeal within the global scientific community," a spokesperson said.
Medical research also benefits from the separate facilities, they argued.
"Access to specific funding programmes and targeted sponsorship is made easier," the spokesperson said.
The Montanuniversität Leoben takes a similar view. Experts suggest that it merge with the Graz University of Technology.
But the university's officials said "under no circumstances" do they want to go down that route, arguing that its unique selling point – specialising in mining, metallurgical and raw materials – is what gives it an edge.
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On the politics side, the paper appears to have been welcomed.
Eva-Maria Holzleitner’s (SPÖ) Ministry of Science told Austria's der Standard that the proposals were "refreshing".
As part of the Higher Education Strategy 2040, which has been under development by working groups since March, the ministry plans to discuss the findings.
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