The Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation invites applications for its Marshall Plan Scholarships program for the academic year 2013/2014. Areas of emphasis include science as well as technology and engineering. The program was established to finance scholarships and fellowships for academic exchange between Austria and the U.S. with a special focus on universities of applied sciences and technical universities ('Fachhochschulen und Technische Universitäten’). Both students at U.S. and Austrian universities may apply.
Horst Rechelbacher, founder of the renowned beauty brand Aveda, has died at the age of 72 at his home in Osceola, Wisconsin. The succesful Austrian, who dedicated his life to beauty and wel-lbeing, was also the founder and chairman of the Horst M. Rechelbacher Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to social and environmental preservation projects.
On Wednesday, February 5, 2014, a group of 80 Pre-K kids from Lafayette Elementary School in Washington, D.C. visited the Embassy to discover and learn about Austria. Accompanied by about twenty parents and teachers the kids not only got to meet the Ambassador but also had the opportunity to virtually travel through Austria, listen and dance to Austrian pop songs and taste some delicious Austrian chocolate cake.
New Database of Austrian Space Industry and Research
Space science and research has had a long tradition in Austria. Already in 1969, the first experimental appliances were sent in space and since 1987, the year of Austria’s accession to the European Space Agency (ESA), a wide range of space technologies have been developed in the Alpine nation. Today over one hundred Austrian companies and research institutes are part of the international space sector.
Since 1982, some 40 students from the University of Innsbruck and other Austrian universities have come to The University of New Orleans for the month of February to learn about American government, history, and society through specially designed classes. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the program, which is one of cornerstones of the deacde-old transtlantic model partnership between the University of Innsbruck and the University of New Orleans.
On Sunday, December 29, 2013, the traditional concert Salute to Vienna took place at The Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD. Modeled after the original Neujahrskonzert in Austria’s capital city Vienna, Salute to Vienna takes place in many of North America’s major concert halls around New Year’s Day. For over 19 years, this simultaneously-produced concert series has delighted U.S. audiences with music from Austrian composer Johann Strauss Jr. and his contemporaries.
On January 29, 2014, the President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Dr. Christoph Leitl, held a discussion at Stanford University focusing on the prevailing innovations and entrepreneurial opportunities and challenges in Austria and how they relate to the greater European Union. The event was organized by the Stanford University US-Asia Technology Management Center together with the European Innovation and Entrepreneurship @Stanford.
