The platform

The fteval platform was founded in 1996 to contribute to more evidence in Austrian research and technology policy. The activity of the platform began with a newsletter that has developed into today’s fteval Journal for Research and Technology Policy Evaluation. The underlying idea of the platform was a loose sequence of events/workshops as well as an informal series of publications on evaluation issues, i.e. of technology programs, projects and concepts. The aim of the activity was and is to achieve a better common understanding between planners, promoters and evaluators. Related to this is the discussion and development of best practices and a discussion on methods, an exchange of experience with other European countries at expert level as well as the discussion about the significance of European Union standards for Austria. Since then, the platform has continued to evolve.

Mission Statement

“The mission of the Austrian Platform for Research and Technology Policy Evaluation is to achieve the quality, transparency and adequate coverage of evaluations for a better strategic planning of RTI policy in Austria – Therefore, together with the Austrian Research Technology, and innovation policy makers are constantly developing the existing evaluation culture.”

fteval Image Video

In the meantime, the platform comprises 25 institutional members – ministries, agencies, evaluators and research institutes. It has been organized as an association since 2006. Many Austrian RTI stakeholders are represented in the platform and work together to further develop the evaluation culture in Austria.

Board and Management Team 2023

Activities and services

In order to further support the evaluation culture in Austria and to inform about new developments in the RTI system, which are relevant to evaluation, the platform has developed a broad portfolio of activities and support services.

International conference

At irregular intervals, conferences on evaluation of RTI policy are organized with international partners to support an exchange between science and practice. In 2006, this was the Open Evaluation Conference, for which we attracted 60 speakers and 250 visitors from all five continents. In 2018, we held the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union Conference on Impact of Research and Innovation Policy at the Crossroads of Policy Design, Implementation and Evaluation, 5-6. November in Vienna. The roughly 300 participants of the conference, who mainly came from the fields of research policy, funding agencies, research and evaluation, discussed the comprehensive approaches of the European Commission on how to make effects in the next European research and innovation framework “Horizon Europe” comprehensible and assessable can. Furthermore, some 40 international guest speakers from Europe, the US, Latin America, Australia and Asia reported on access to the unfolding of effects of research activities and their measurement against the background of current national, regional and institutional experiments and experiences.

Since 2021/22, the largest European conference on research and innovation policy evaluation has been organised under the title “REvaluation Conference“. From 5–6 May 2022, under the motto “Anticipation – Transformation – Resilience“, a personal exchange on current developments in the field was once again facilitated after the pandemic period. You can read the conference proceedings here: REvaluation Conference 2021/22 Proceedings.

REvaluation Podcast

Also under the title “REvaluation“, a podcast on the future of research policy and its evaluation was launched in 2022. In the episodes, which appear approximately monthly, current topics are discussed, actors in the field are interviewed and recordings of events are presented. You can subscribe to the podcast on all common directories and recommend it to others: https://podcast.fteval.at/

The event format “fteval inside: fteval insight”

A special feature in the area of fteval events is the format “fteval inside: fteval insight”, in which member organizations invite themselves to present their activities with a self-selected thematic focus and to discuss them in an informal setting. This is the platform’s only event format, to which only employees of member organisations are invited.

“Countries series”

In cooperation with the BMWFW and the WWTF, a lecture about interesting developments in the RTI policy area of other countries takes place. For this purpose, national and international experts in the field of RTI policy and evaluation are invited to exchange ideas. The next event can be found under the heading News. In recent years, the following countries have been presented and discussed:

2018: The Norwegian Innovation System: Evolution and Challenges for Policy
2017: Coherence, diversity, excellence !? On the governance of the Dutch university and research system and what can be learned from it
2016: Towards the Best – The Evaluation of the German Excellence Initiative

fteval Journal for Research and Technology Policy Evaluation

The fteval Journal for Research and Technology Policy Evaluation emerged from the earlier so-called “newsletter”. The platform publishes practical as well as academic contributions to the topic of FTI policy evaluation and helps to support and secure this discourse across the various stakeholder groups. In more than 40 editions of the journal, more than 200 articles have been published predominantly in English. Thematic special issues and open issues provide a broad contextual content. The journal can be subscribed to here.

fteval Newsletter

Quarterly or up-to-date, we send out a newsletter to our subscribers and draw attention to current discussions and events. The newsletter can be subscribed to here.

Notes on external events

Current events of partner organizations and on relevant topics can be found online under Events.

fteval standards of evaluation in research and technology policy

An important building block for the further development of the evaluation culture are the fteval standards of evaluation in research and technology policy. These serve to provide a frame of reference for both the evaluators, the commissioning institutions and the evaluators. This is to achieve a higher degree of commitment and security for all stakeholders. The standards were developed by the member organizations in a joint process that started with the institutionalization of the fteval in 2002 and adopted as a common minimum requirement for evaluations. In 2018, these standards were reviewed, supplemented and expanded. They were also revised in a collaborative process. The new standards can be obtained here.

fteval Repository

A central activity of the platform is the collection and publication of the Austrian evaluation reports in a dedicated repository. The availability of more than 600 evaluation reports, studies and strategy documents on the platform’s repository contribute to the transparency and visibility of the activities in this policy area done.

In addition, the platform regularly organizes training sessions, provides one-to-one advice and participates in national and international knowledge sharing by participating in relevant events organized by other organizations.