The ARIT has been organised by the OSTA (Office of Science and Technology Austria, Washington D.C.) since 2004 and it is the biggest and most important conference for Austrian researchers in North America. Furthermore, the ARIT acts as a platform for networking between stakeholders and STI players from the USA and Austria. The Austrian researchers in North America (USA, Canada and Mexico) are supported in all professional matters by the OSTA through the RINA (Researcher and Innovation Network Austria) during their stay in North America. The platform brings together the members of the scientific and entrepreneurial communities in North America and Austria, provides information about funding and career opportunities and supports networking activities. As a best practice model in the EU RINA has more than 2,700 members today.
OeAD at the ARIT
RINA also supports researchers working within the framework of OeAD funding programmes as well as lecturers in North America and Mexico. The OeAD lecturer Ruth Gafko, Universdad Nacional Autónoma de México/UNAM, and lecturer Wolfgang Steiner, University of Guadalajara, attended the ARIT in New York. They used the opportunity for networking with the representatives of the ministries, the funding agencies and the scientists from all disciplines present. Another important network is ASciNA (Austrian Scientists and Scholars in North America), which also links scholarship holders and scientists in North America and accompanies their stay by means of various activities. ASciNA‘s main focus is on regional support in the USA and Europe and the mentoring programme, which brings together ASciNA members of different generations in their respective fields. At the ARIT in New York the ASciNA Award for Young Researchers, the calls for application for which are announced every year by ASciNA and which is financed by Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF), was presented to the three prize winners by Iris Rauskala, Federal Minister for Education, Science and Research.
Cooperation with Advantage Austria
The holding of the conference "Austria Connect" by the Austrian branch office of the Chamber of Commerce at the same time gave further importance to the motto "Science Meets Business". In the panels of the conference speakers from the fields of science and industry highlighted different aspects of synergy and cooperation possibilities and emphasised the necessity to further advance the connection between science and industry. The ARIT has been a fixed event in the annual schedule for Austrian researchers for many years as an opportunity for networking with each other and with stakeholders from industry and science. We are already looking forward to the ARIT 2020!
