

Outdoor Laboratory
National Park
The largely natural development of National Parks means they are coveted research areas. This means that the range of scientific projects conducted here is large: ranging from long-term monitoring of ecosystems, through inventories of native flora and fauna, to the investigation of exciting ecological and social developments. Research is never an end in itself: insights gained serve to improve knowledge of the region and the performance of duties in accordance with conservation goals, statutory requirements and IUCN guideline.
Research
under one roof
From endemic species research to bat surveys, from phytosociological examinations to greylag goose monitoring, from social and economics studies to environmental education publications:
The Austrian National Parks’ wealth of knowledge has been available on the metadata platform parcs.at since 2014. As part of the Open Data Initiative, work was also carried out on an interface to data.gv.at, on which more than 1,300 entries are now available to download on nature and research subjects related to the National Parks. The range of content covers geodata, through to reports on glacier measurement projects and inventories, to progress reports of the National Park administrations.


Joint protection
on common ground
As a key task of National Park and nature conservation, research constitutes an essential priority in the operations of large-scale protected areas.
National Parks Austria is therefore accelerating practice-oriented scientific projects to ensure the management and quality of protected areas. With our research guidelines we guarantee a coordinated procedure in line with shared objectives, cooperative development of scientific concepts, integration of young research talent, the public provision of data and understandable presentation of results.
Symposium

A Platform
for Research
With the research symposium organised since 2013, the umbrella organisation provides a forum for dialogue between science and practice, which overcomes boundaries of protected areas, subjects and countries. Created by the High Tauern National Park Salzburg in 1996, the symposium, which is held every four years, provides for fresh and exciting perspectives on our natural heritage. The associated conference transcripts make the results publicly available in the long term.
Scholarships

New Minds
New Ideas
Whether you are undertaking a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD project: The National Park administrations are open to new research projects and will be happy to support you with advice.
With the National Parks Austria Research Scholarships, we even have our own funding tool to encourage students to implement scientific projects in cooperation with the Austrian National Park administrations.