G – Corporate responsibility
Reporting & Transparency
Sustainability requires clarity. With the 2024/25 fiscal year, we have therefore prepared our first voluntary sustainability report, which is based on the currently applicable ESRS standards. In doing so, we are disclosing our ESG strategy and at the same time creating a basis for managing our measures and goals. The report will be published annually in the future and will transparently document our progress. To prepare it, we conducted a double materiality analysis, which forms the basis for systematically assessing opportunities and risks and effectively developing our sustainability strategy.
What exactly is...?
ESRS
Dual materiality
Compliance
ESRS
Dual materiality
Compliance
Structure & management
Our sustainability agenda is managed by the management team, the core sustainability team comprising eight experts from research, teaching and administration, and a sustainability project manager. This structure ensures that sustainability is not only planned but actively practised – from strategy to implementation.
Sustainable procurement
In the area of procurement, we are guided by the National Action Plan for Sustainable Procurement (naBe) and our own guidelines. Regionality, environmental standards and life cycle assessment are fixed criteria.
Practical examples: In everyday life, we use glass bottles instead of disposable plastic. Discarded equipment and furniture are not disposed of, but donated to charitable organisations.
Ethics & compliance
Our decisions are based on transparency and reliability. All employees are public officials within the meaning of Austrian law and are subject to strict compliance rules, which we have also laid down in our own guidelines. Training on whistleblower protection and ethical behaviour is a mandatory part of the internal training programme. Our Ethics Committee monitors compliance with scientific standards, and the “Good Scientific Practice” guideline is binding and ensures transparency and fairness in research and teaching.
The protection of sensitive data is equally important: as a health university, we process highly sensitive information and therefore rely on a multi-level data protection and IT security concept. GDPR-compliant processes, regular training and technical protective measures such as firewalls and encryption are standard. In addition, we conduct mandatory awareness training on cybersecurity to minimise risks such as phishing or social engineering.
