13 Drug-related Research
13.1 Research structures
Looking at the field of drug-related research in Austria one becomes aware of the great di- versity and little planning in this field which is mainly characterised by the initiatives of indi- vidual institutions and researchers. It is important to distinguish between research contracts and funded research. Research contracts are mainly awarded by the federal government (e.g., consumption surveys in the general population and in schools; see Chapter 13.2) or the provincial governments (e.g., evaluation studies, demand surveys). For example, the Ministry of Health finances representative surveys and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Ad- diction Research. Research funding is applied for by research institutes and individual re- searchers. The field of interaction between politics, practice and research has no established structures in Austria, but especially in the field of commissioned research, decisions are in- fluenced by research results. There is no general research strategy or coordinating body for the field of drugs and addiction in Austria, either at national or at provincial level.
In Austria there are two interdisciplinary research institutes specifically dedicated to the issue of addiction. The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Addiction Research68 (LBISucht) is based on a cooperation between the Anton Proksch Institute, which is the largest therapy centre as- sisting persons addicted to alcohol and/or drugs in Austria, and the Ludwig Boltzmann Soci- ety, an umbrella organisation with the aim of promoting scientific research in Austria. The LBI Sucht publishes the quarterly Wiener Zeitschrift für Suchtforschung. Research focuses on epidemiology, drug-specific problem areas (e.g., traffic safety), drug policy, social history, evaluation research, studies on addiction treatment and prevention as well as papers dealing with statistics and methodology. In recent years there were increased research activities within the framework of international studies in the field of evaluation of primary prevention. The Addiction Research Institute69 was established as a branch of the University of Innsbruck in 1990 and is based at the treatment centre for addiction patients Maria Ebene hospital in
67 The EMCDDA defines drug-related research as research into the use of drugs, addiction and its consequences as well as the
responses to drug use and drug related problems. This definition covers basic and applied research.
68 www.api.or.at/lbi 69 www.suchtforschung.at
Vorarlberg. The research undertaken at this Institute focuses on physical, psychological and social disorders and diseases in the context of alcohol, nicotine, illicit drugs and psychotropic substances.
At university level drug-related research is mainly found in the medical field of hospitals. The Hospitals of Psychiatry of the Universities of Vienna and Innsbruck should be mentioned in this context as centres of continuous substitution-specific research (see Chapter 13.2). Sin- gle projects in the field of basic research into social issues may be found at university de- partments dedicated to social studies. Addiction- and drug-specific issues are also discussed in diploma theses and dissertations; social consequences are explored mostly at Social Work Colleges of Higher Education, whereas public health issues are mainly studied at Health Management Colleges of Higher Education. Individual drug help services, e.g., ChEck iT!, are also committed to questions that are relevant for research, and to a growing extent, pri- vate institutes in the field of drug-related research accept contracts as well. Gesundheit Österreich GmbH / Austrian Health Institute (GÖG/ÖBIG) also carries out research in the context of drugs and addiction. Examples are the two studies on the requirements of preven- tion regarding young people vulnerable to addiction and the prevalence estimates for prob- lem drug use (see 2001b, ÖBIG 2002b, GÖG/ ÖBIG 2006).
In Austria there is no specific institution competent for centralised allocation of means for drug- or addiction-relevant issues. Therefore drug-related research is included in the general structure of research promotion in Austria. In the field of basic research, competence mainly lies with the federal authorities. Because of the great number of funding institutions, no fund- ing figures can be given either for research in general or for drug-specific research.
At federal level, apart from research funding by the Federal Ministries there are major fund- ing institutions that accept applications of drug-related research projects according to their focus. One example is the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)70, the central organi- sation for the promotion of research and innovation in this country. It focuses on economi- cally relevant and application-oriented research. The Austrian Science Fund (FWF)71 is Aus- tria’s central institution for the promotion of basic research. It is committed to all academic fields in the same measure, and in its activities it closely adheres to the standards of the sci- entific community. The Österreichische Nationalbank (OeNB), the central bank of the Repub- lic of Austria, in 1966 founded the Jubilee Fund for the promotion of academic research and teaching. The means are awarded for scientific projects of high quality in the fields of eco- nomic studies, medical science, social sciences and humanities.72 Especially in the field of health, the Healthy Austria Fund (GÖG/FGÖ) also finances application-oriented research projects and studies on the further development of health promotion and comprehensive pri- mary prevention, as well as epidemiology, evaluation and quality assurance in these areas.73 Other sponsors of addiction- and drug-related research can be found at the level of provinces and in the promotion programmes of the European Union (EU). The multiplicity of structural
70 www.ffg.at 71 www.fwf.ac.at
72 www.oenb.at/de/ueber_die_oenb/foerderung/jubilaeumsfonds/jubilaeumsfonds.jsp 73 www.fgoe.org/projektfoerderung
levels involved (federal and provincial levels, EU level) and the great variety of research funding sources make it difficult to survey the sphere of research promotion in Austria. There are some Internet portals which may help to get an overview. In addition, each funding insti- tution gives information on their own website. For example, the website of the City of Vi- enna74 and the grants compass75 of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Tech- nology (BMVIT) provide a general navigation system for nationwide research promotion in Austria.