Atlas report
AI researchers in Austria
TU Wien is the largest, with 569 indexed researchers, 1.6 times University of Vienna behind it. One institution sets the tone for the country.
The short answer
By number of indexed researchers, Austria ranks 22nd of 132 countries, with 3 914 profiles.
Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge is where Austria stands apart. 115 researchers, 1.5% of the country's total, against a world share of 0.3%.
Per million inhabitants, Austria has 430 AI researchers in the index against 89 worldwide, 4.8 times the world figure.
What stands out
Austria holds 0.5% of the researchers with a known country and 0.1% of the world's population, 4.8 times its demographic weight.
Multimodal Machine Learning Applications is the subject newcomers in Austria pick up fastest: 29 started on it between 2023 and 2025, and its share of new entrants is 2.0 times its share in the previous window.
Topic Modeling is the largest subject in Austria, carried by 4.4% of its subject assignments.
Subjects
Subject reports: Natural Language Processing Techniques, Neural Networks and Applications, Multimodal Machine Learning Applications.
| Subject | Researchers | Share here | Share worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topic Modeling | 348 | 4.4% | 7.9% |
| Natural Language Processing Techniques | 219 | 2.8% | 4.3% |
| Advanced Neural Network Applications | 210 | 2.7% | 4.4% |
| Semantic Web and Ontologies | 205 | 2.6% | 1.1% |
| Formal Methods in Verification | 147 | 1.9% | 0.5% |
| Neural Networks and Applications | 146 | 1.8% | 1.2% |
| Multimodal Machine Learning Applications | 138 | 1.7% | 3.9% |
| Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge | 115 | 1.5% | 0.3% |
Newcomers by year
Austria gained 531 new researchers between 2023 and 2025, 0.9 times the 568 of the three years before; the world ratio is 1.1.
In 2025, the last full year, Austria gained 0.8 times as many new researchers as in an average year of the three before; the world figure is 0.8.
| First publication | New in Austria | Share of the world's newcomers |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 140 | 0.7% |
| 2020 | 179 | 0.9% |
| 2021 | 166 | 0.7% |
| 2022 | 223 | 0.7% |
| 2023 | 167 | 0.5% |
| 2024 | 202 | 0.7% |
| 2025 | 162 | 0.6% |
Institutions
The three largest institutions, TU Wien first, hold 32% of the country's indexed researchers.
TU Wien is the largest, with 569 indexed researchers, 1.6 times University of Vienna behind it. One institution sets the tone for the country.
| Institution | Researchers | Share of the country |
|---|---|---|
| TU Wien | 569 | 15% |
| University of Vienna | 358 | 9.1% |
| Graz University of Technology | 329 | 8.4% |
Compared with its peers
The two countries closest in size are Bangladesh and Iran. Same order of magnitude, different profile. The gap that stands out is the share working in a company: 9.7% here against 0.3% for those two.
| Austria | Bangladesh | Iran | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Researchers | 3 914 | 3 733 | 3 642 |
| Per million inhabitants | 430 | 22 | 41 |
| In a company | 9.7% | 0.1% | 0.5% |
| Early career | 49% | 66% | 48% |
| Newcomers, recent against previous window | 0.9 | 1.4 | 1.2 |
Common questions
- How many AI researchers are there in Austria?
- 3 914 researchers in the Founding Hires index have an institution in Austria, 0.5% of all profiles with a known country, as of October 2026.
- Where do you find AI researchers in Austria?
- TU Wien, 569, University of Vienna, 358, Graz University of Technology, 329. Together they hold 32% of the country's indexed researchers.
- What is Austria strongest in?
- Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge, at 4.7 times the world share.
- Is the pool of AI researchers in Austria growing?
- Yes, slower than the world. Between 2023 and 2025, 531 people in Austria published for the first time, against 568 over the three years before, a ratio of 0.9 where the world sits at 1.1.
The names behind the numbers
Every count on this page is a list in the index.
Search it by subject and country, and get an alert before they come free.