Current projects
What is the project about?The crowdsourcing project "Letters 1914-1919" is about the transcription of the unique letter collection of the Vienna City Library from this period. In contrast to historical printed works, which are now subjected to automatic full-text recognition as standard, this is still not so easy to do for manuscripts - especially when the documents come from many different writers, as in this case. Since the democratization of knowledge plays a central role in the range of...
Language is one of the most important means of human communication, an essential part of our culture and it can also fulfill an identity-forming function. At the same time, it is constantly changing with the society that uses it. There are words that were used a century ago, but that no one knows today. Simultaneously, there are other words are still in use but have changed their meaning.With the "ABCs of Dialect" you can rediscover old German dialect words and help us process the...
Counselling centres for women* are important institutions that have been founded since the 1980s by the second women's movement. In the project, researchers are conducting research together with counsellors and clients of Viennese women's* counselling centres. We are interested in the life stories of women* who seek help at counselling centres. How can women lead a good life in this society today and what role can women's counselling play in this? In workshops, questions and methods are...
SoilPlastic is a citizen science project that collects data on plastic in soils. No prior knowledge is needed to participate and you can enter your observations in the SoilPlastic app in just a few minutes.What is it about?Plastic products and their remains are ubiquitous. However, we still know little about how much and which types of plastic end up in soils and what effects this has. Observations by citizen scientists help scientists to fill this knowledge gap. This is an...
Flexibilisation of WF-mowing dates according to the phenological model The ÖPUL-measure Nature Conservation results in farmers usually having an agreement on a fixed mowing date. Due to the ongoing climate change, vegetation development fluctuates more and more especially during spring and early summer. Therefore, it was proposed to expand the flexibility of harvest date requirements. For this purpose, over a hundred farmers all over Austria started to observe the course of panicle...
Biodiversity and ecology of freshwater bacteriaThe bacterial genus Aquirufa, which was discovered and scientifically described in cooperation with pupils, is the eponym and focus of the research project. The aim is to research the ecology, biodiversity and distribution of Aquirufa in water bodies through the active and creative participation of citizen scientists in the entire research process.Many people only know bacteria as pathogens, although only a small proportion of...
The sale of electrical and electronic equipment is constantly increasing and accordingly e-waste has already become the fastest growing waste stream in the world. Our society needs to face this challenge without delay, so the Recycling Heroes project aims to raise awareness about e-waste, especially among students but also in society in general, by combining the principles of the circular economy with citizen science methods.ParticipationAs citizen scientists, the students develop a...
Participate in archaeological field surveys and/or in cleaning, documenting & interpreting archaeological finds.A transdisciplinary look at the early Neolithic communities in the Schletz settlement clusterThe project aims to explore the surroundings of the famous Neolithic settlement of Asparn/Schletz (Lower Austria). Numerous human remains suggest a violent attack on this site in the Late Linear Pottery Culture, approx. 7.000 years ago. Due to its size and earthworks...
Plastic Pirates - Go Europe! A Citizen Science Initiative to investigate plastic pollution along riversThe pollution of beaches and riverbanks in Europe with plastic waste does not stop at borders. Preventing micro- and macroplastics in the environment, addressing this challenge scientifically and researching sustainable materials are therefore tasks we need to work on together across Europe.Plastic Pirates - Go Europe! was first developed in Germany in 2016. Since January 2022, with the...
Breaking the blame game: COwLEARNING for sustainable beef and dairy supply Our society faces grand challenges, such as mitigating climate change and adapting to its consequences, ensuring a healthy diet and maintaining cultural landscapes with high biodiversity. A sustainable agri-food industry addresses these challenges. In Austria, with its high share of meadows and pastures, cattle husbandry is particularly important. Several aspects of dairy and beef supply are perceived as...
Every observation counts!The City Nature Challenge (short: CNC) is an annual nature competition between regions that takes place in spring (usually at the end of April, beginning of May) and is held simultaneously in various cities and regions worldwide. On four consecutive days, people around the world document the diversity of wild animal, plant and fungi species in their region using photos and sound recordings and share them on iNaturalist. Together with others the observations are then...
"Crows in the zoo" is a Citizen Science project of the Department for Behavioral and Cognitive Biology of the University of Vienna in cooperation with the Konrad Lorenz Research Center and the Zoo Vienna. The researchers aim to find out more about the species and subspecies of crows that use the zoo area. All visitors of the Zoo Vienna are welcome to join in and contribute collecting behavioural data by using an app developed for smartphones.As typical cultural followers, corvids regularly...
Be an expert on your disease and join our research!The PATIO initiative is working hard to strengthen the voices of prostate cancer patients and their caregivers heard in medical research.Why is it important to act now? Porstate cancer affects a considerable number of people in Austria. On the one hand, around 65,000 men have suffered from this particular type of cancer by the end of 2020 (Statistics Austria, 2022), and on the other hand, there are countless partners, children...
DeVOTE is a research project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) from January 2021 to December 2025, and led by Ass.-Prof. Carolina Plescia to develop and apply a new approach to study what ‘voting’ means for ordinary citizens. The project’s goals are:understand what ‘voting’ means for ordinary citizens;examine the variation of 'voting' meanings across individuals and across countries;study how elections create and modify these 'voting' meanings;investigate the consequences of...
Since April 2021, the BaF-Biodiversität am Friedhof project has been researching biodiversity in Austrian cemeteries in collaboration with Friedhöfe Wien GmbH, with a special focus on Vienna's cemeteries. The aim is to document biodiversity and analyse the impact of human activities on these urban habitats. This close cooperation between BOKU and urban cemeteries enables a deep understanding of the diverse ecosystems and supports the development of sustainable measures to protect...
The Ideenbox (box of ideas) collects the problems of citizens and patients around the topic of health (such as physical and mental health issues, social consequences, care, health prevention...), for which solutions are to be developed with citizens, researchers and other stakeholders. Which health problem do you want research to solve? Who should be involved in finding a solution? Send us the health problem that you would like research to address through this simple online questionnaire (in...
CrowdWater is a hydrological citizen science project of the University of Zurich. CrowdWater uses an app to collect data about water. No prior knowledge is required to participate.What is the project about?CrowdWater stands for independent and reliable data collection by anyone with an interest in water. The observations collected with the CrowdWater app can complement existing measurements and be used for hydrological modeling. The method is being developed in Zurich and will also be used...
Due to the enormous request and the multitude of consignments of fossil images encompassing almost the entire Earth history, the precise issues and the resulting project target were adapted in accordance to the requirements and wishes oft he citizen scientists. The geographical and chronological distribution of fossils in Austria is a particular focal point in the scientific problem of this geoscience project. Exciting field research in the Austrian Alps forms the foundation of the...
The “Blick ins Dickicht” project is dedicated to the search for the smallest native dormouse – the hazel dormouse. Until now, only very little has been known about this rare small animal. In order to learn more about its way of life and also how best protect it in working forests, evidence of hazel dormice is being sought in the Wienerwald forest and in the Donauauen national park. There are many different ways to participate here.Where are hazel dormice found?The hazel dormouse...
We are tracing the Sculptured Resin Bee!Home of the Sculptured Resin Bee (Megachile sculpturalis, Smith 1853) is far away in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan. In 2008, the Sculptured Resin Bee was discovered in southern France as the first introduced wild bee species in Europe. Since then, the bee has been particularly active and dispersed rapidly throughout Europe. Together, we track down the Sculptured Resin Bee in Austria. Report your observations via email at This email address is being...
Are swallows nesting at your house or in your stable? Have you seen a badger in the middle of town? Or do you regularly observe a kestrel in your garden? We are interested in your observations in rural settlement areas!
"Pilzfinder" - what it's all aboutUntil a few decades ago, knowledge of wild edible and poisonous mushrooms was widespread. Especially the older population knew about the seasonal occurrence of the mushrooms. Finding mushrooms is a popular hobby for young and old, which is accompanied by great experience. In order to preserve and extend this knowledge and above all to bring it closer to the younger generation, the Mushroom Finder is now available. Due to the global warming of the last few...
Participatory exploration of the "Kremser scorpion” (Euscorpius tergestinus) with school students"Triestino scorpion" (Euscorpius tergestinus - still listed as E. carpathicus in the Red List of NÖ), which are threatened with extinction in Lower Austria, exists as an archaeozoon in Krems. This population is an isolated north-eastern outpost of the distribution area. Since 2019, sightings of these animals have been collected together with students of the BRG Krems Ringstraße 33, a UNESCO...
The kestrel is the most common raptor in the city of Vienna. Since 2010, the "Vienna Kestrel Project" has been investigating how these falcons have adapted to city life. A key component of our research is knowledge about nest locations which allow us to access broods for further investigation. The Vienna Kestrel Project was initiated by Dr. Petra Sumasgutner and Priv.-Doz. Dr. Anita Gamauf as a cooperation between the University of Vienna and the Natural History Museum (Bird Collection)...