With the intention to strengthen scientific collaboration between industry and universities and to build centers of excellence based on such collaborations the city of Vienna decided to establish a novel call, the “VSOE – Vienna Spots of Excellence”, which was started in August 2005.

Main objectives are to

• Motivate companies to invest uin industrial research
• Reduce barriers between universities and industry
• Create international visibility for the research program

Following the European de minimis regulation a maximum of just under 50% of total project cost can be financially supported by ZIT up to 2 Mio Euros for a period of 3 to 5 years with a minimum project volume of total 1.5 Mio Euro.

Funding is granted following a competitive evaluation and selection procedure by an international board of experts.

A total of 2.7 million Euro covering research activities starting with 2006 through to 2009 have been budgeted for the ASPEX program. Approximately 1.3 million Euro will be provided by the ZIT as non repayable grant, whilst the rest will be provided by the project partners.

This initiative once again confirms that Vienna is presently one of the most attractive biotech locations in Europe with consistent and sustained support for pharmaceutical research and development.

The project was officially started in March 2006.