We are happy to share that the IDSF 2025 Summary Report has just been published by the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology!
Under the topic “Balancing Sovereignty and Solidarity in the Digital Age”, the International Digital Security Forum brought together policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to explore how digital technologies shape peace, security, and democracy.
Last week, Victoria Kontrus and Stefan Hopf had the opportunity to present findings from the BUILD Project at the annual meeting of the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Geriatrie und Gerontologie (ÖGGG)
European research policy has two main pillars or funding streams, one inviting researchers to apply for funding of blue sky or basic research and submit their proposals to the ERC. The other pillar, so-called mission-oriented research, invites researchers to contribute to pre-defined topics, developing solutions for policy problems, using the tool kit of their discipline. This dual approach of basic and applied research roughly mirrors a well-known difference between internal and external governance of science.
In December 2025, the Austrian Constitutional Court (VfGH E 1297/2025-11) issued a decision that marks a significant moment in Austrian gender jurisprudence. For the first time, the Court explicitly extended access to the third legal gender category to non-binary persons irrespective of intersex embodiment. This ruling represents a decisive departure from the biomedical logic that had structured Austria’s earlier reforms and signals a broader shift in how constitutional equality, gender identity, and legal recognition are understood. Yet, as with earlier advances in legal gender recognition, this development remains deeply ambivalent. While it meaningfully expands access to legal recognition, it simultaneously reproduces the classificatory structures through which gender is governed by law.
Sicherheit ist ein soziales Phänomen, das einen eigentümlichen Status besitzt. Sicherheit
ist ein Zustand des Gemeinwesens, bei dem die Individuen ohne weitere Überlegungen
ihren üblichen Geschäften nachgehen (bei denen sie natürlich jede Menge
Überlegungen anstellen!).
All policy papers drafted by VICESSE and project partners, as well as Resources for Practitioners can be found here.
A list of academic publications by VICESSE researchers can be found here.
Kontrus, Hopf (2026)
von Laufenberg, Kontrus (2025)
Gallistl, von Laufenberg (2025)
Herbinger, Reidinger (2025)
All public reports published in VICESSE projects are available here.
European research policy has two main pillars or funding streams, one inviting researchers to apply for funding of blue sky or basic research and submit their proposals to the ERC. The other pillar, so-called mission-oriented research, invites researchers to contribute to pre-defined topics, developing solutions for policy problems, using the tool kit of their discipline. This dual approach of basic and applied research roughly mirrors a well-known difference between internal and external governance of science.
In December 2025, the Austrian Constitutional Court (VfGH E 1297/2025-11) issued a decision that marks a significant moment in Austrian gender jurisprudence. For the first time, the Court explicitly extended access to the third legal gender category to non-binary persons irrespective of intersex embodiment. This ruling represents a decisive departure from the biomedical logic that had structured Austria’s earlier reforms and signals a broader shift in how constitutional equality, gender identity, and legal recognition are understood. Yet, as with earlier advances in legal gender recognition, this development remains deeply ambivalent. While it meaningfully expands access to legal recognition, it simultaneously reproduces the classificatory structures through which gender is governed by law.
Sicherheit ist ein soziales Phänomen, das einen eigentümlichen Status besitzt. Sicherheit
ist ein Zustand des Gemeinwesens, bei dem die Individuen ohne weitere Überlegungen
ihren üblichen Geschäften nachgehen (bei denen sie natürlich jede Menge
Überlegungen anstellen!).
Dieser Blog Eintrag basiert auf die Forschungsergebnisse des IMPROVE Projekts und fokusiert sich auf Hürden, die das Aufsuchen von Hilfe für Opfer von Häuslicher Gewalt erschweren.
The Erasmus+-funded research project NESTOR dealt with the implementation and evaluation of parenting schools for fathers in prison. This blog post based on an article published in soziales_kapital presents a sociological perspective on the extent to which both the individual exercise of fatherhood in prison and nationwide support for imprisoned fathers are prevented by the conditions and functioning of the prison system.
Im Februar vergangenen Jahres habe ich in meinem Blogpost zum Gewaltschutz in Österreich davon geschrieben, dass die Grundstrukturen des Gewaltschutzes trotz mancher Lücken durchaus vorzeigbar sind. Nach den Ereignissen der ersten 10 Tage des neuen Jahres scheint es mir notwendig, dieses Urteil weiter einzuschränken. Anlass dafür sind zwei Fälle von Gewalt, die insbesondere in der österreichischen Rechtsprechung einen Aufholbedarf beim Thema Opferschutz erkennen lässt.
From 17 to 19 June, the BUILD Consortium gathered in Vienna for its most recent in-person consortium meeting, organized by VICESSE. Bringing together colleagues from across Europe, the meeting marked an important milestone in the final year of the project.