Austria has experienced shortcomings in the recruitment of high-profile academics, the provision of internationally competitive career prospects and is in need of a governance and funding system that can better respond to changing demands and raise quality in teaching and research. A number of initiatives have recently been taken in the area of career development and recruitment in HEIs (e .g. An Austrian research excellence initiative should strengthen competitive funding for basic research and address pertinent issues such as the retention of established researchers in the country.