Research projects 2025
Empowering European Energy Consumers - Supporting European Energy Consumers
Project leader:
- Prof. Brigitta Lurger (Institute for Civil Law, Foreign and Private International Law)
- Associate Professor Ursula Athenstaedt (Institute of Psychology)
Funding: FWF
Duration: 2025-2028
In its directives on renewable energy sources and on the internal electricity market, the EU Commission promulgated its vision of a new European energy market. The new markets are characterised by decentralised production of electricity from renewable sources, which is essential for mitigating climate change. Energy consumers should stand at the core of this energy transformation, as they are expected to engage in an active sustainability-oriented energy consumption behaviour. For instance, consumers should make smart initial choices on their mode of energy supply, but will also have to engage in additional activities on a regular basis: like the gathering of information, the handling of smart electronic devices, the control of the sustainability of their energy consumption and - if applicable - their own energy production and distribution.
In a nutshell, what the EU expects of consumers is way beyond the conventional standards known in other consumer markets and requires considerable behavioural change on the part of consumers. Objectives. The central aim of the proposed project is to support consumers in engaging in an active sustainability-oriented energy consumption - as envisaged by the EU and national legislators - by improving the legal framework that currently regulates the European energy market. Methods. Following a theory-to-practice approach we focus on (1) identifying active sustainability-oriented behaviors of interest and developing a set of consistent and scientifically valid measures; (2) identifying variables and mechanisms that are likely to "work" in changing consumer energy behaviour and (3) embedding this knowledge into interventions that can be realized by legal prescription. Across six studies, we will use a mix of different methods, including a representative survey, experimental studies, and quasi-experimental/field studies. Level of originality.
In an interdisciplinary psychological-legal framework, psychological evidence will provide the basis for designing interventions that enable consumers to live up to the EU's regulatory goals. It is our final aim to formulate (psychological) evidence-based policy recommendations for the EU and national legislators to improve the common regulatory framework of EU energy markets. With this approach, we follow a growing trend in addressing the uptake of research findings into decision-making processes and policy-making, which, in the end, will make the new European energy market policy more effective in achieving its goals (decarbonisation, prevention of climate change, consumer protection).
Communicative Artificial Intelligence (ComAI) -The Automation of Societal Communication
Project leader: Prof. Dr Juliane Jarke (Business Analytics and Data Science Center, Institute of Sociology)
Duration: 2025 - 2028
Funding: FWF
ComAIs are increasingly presented as solutions to the care demands of a growing older population vis-à-vis a defunding of healthcare systems and a shortage of healthcare professionals. They are also promoted as supporting "healthy ageing", a policy objective that aims to advance the wellbeing of older adults. In this context, technology companies and policy makers create re-gimes of anticipations that shape expectations and future imaginaries, and define what is thinkable and desirable. In these anticipation regimes, ComAIs are ascribed different "care obligations": managing healthy ageing, providing health information and facilitating older adults' access to health care. P9 researches the emergence and constructions of hybrid healthcare figurations through digital methods and qualitative case studies in Austria, Germany, UK and the US. The project aims to reconstruct care practices of different older populations, healthcare professionals and informal carers through ComAIs. This contributes to the RU's research objectives to typify patterns of appropriation in social domains and explore new forms of hybrid agency.
Project leader: Prof. Dr Bettina Kubicek (Institute of Psychology)
Duration: 2025 - 2026
Funding: FFG
The far-reaching transformation processes in energy provision and supply, the mobility sector, industrial production, housing construction and waste management also require emergency services to adapt quickly and flexibly to changing conditions. In the event of an incident such as a major leak of energy sources like hydrogen, LNG or ammonia, but also in the event of a fire in vehicles and storage facilities with lithium-ion batteries, critical decisions have to be made under time pressure. The training and experience background of emergency personnel ("operational bias") also has a significant influence on decision-making.
EU project JuWiLi II - Justice without Litigation
Project leader at the University of Graz: Univ.-Prof. Dr Brigitta Lurger (Institute for Civil Law, Foreign and Private International Law)
Duration: 2025 - 2026
Funding: EU (European Commission)
A growing number of Member States is modernising their civil justice systems by transferring non-contentious tasks from the judiciary to other entities. Procedural standards and the rule of law have to be guaranteed. Thus, notaries being public office holders are increasingly entrusted with such tasks (e.g. in succession, family law, taking of evidence). National systems differ in tackling the issues of out-of-court justice by notaries. At cross-border level, such procedures need to be facilitated and their enforcement improved through better procedures and case-handling. However, comparisons and systematic knowledge of such 'outsourcing' are scarce. This trend of externalised justice is only partially reflected by EU civil justice instruments.
Building on the results of a first JuWiLi project, this project will extend and deepen the analysis by including additional Member States which might have considerably different approaches as to non-contentious procedures. By a systematic data collection, a comparative legal analysis, and identification of common minimum procedural standards, the project will enhance trust and faciliate cross-border procedures between these different justice systems of the Member States.
The project will extend the economic evaluation to these countries, identify good practice examples in terms of efficiency increases, and conduct a behavioral economics analysis. A focus will be laid in the areas of consensual divorces (Brussels IIb Reg.) and successions, while other areas stay in play as well. After a series of events and based on the study results, policy recommendations addressed to the national and EU levels will be developed. They will show best practice examples to be followed, and the eventual need for improvements as to the effectiveness of systems and the coherent application of EU law. The project will contribute to improve daily cross-border cooperation and case-handling between notaries in the EU by improving CNUE's ENN platform.
>> Research Group Contract Decisions of Consumers between Law and Psychology
The CLP research group combines law and psychology. The research group is concerned with the measurement and promotion of active and sustainable energy behaviour in accordance with EU directives. Further information can be found here.
Research projects 2024
Project leader: Prof. Dr Stefan Thalmann (Business Analytics and Data Science Centre)
Duration: 2024 - 2027
Funding: Smart Regulation profile area
Advances in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in particular have a significant impact on people, organisations and society. However, the design and development of AI and ML has so far been in the hands of specialists. Subject matter experts had to discuss their ideas for AI applications and the requirements with these specialists, which was not only time-consuming, but the availability of AI specialists was a bottleneck.
With the help of low-code development platforms (LCDPs), AI applications can now also be created by experts themselves. The [Sm-AI-R] research group investigates the design and appropriation process of these systems in an interdisciplinary network.
The following scientific disciplines from the Smart Regulation profile area are working on this project:
- Business Analytics
- ethics
- Organisation Studies
- Philosophy
- Psychology
- Law
Project leader: Prof. Dr Maria Bertel (Institute for Public Law and Political Science)
Duration: 2024 - 2027
Funding: FFG
Integrating photovoltaic modules on heritage sites supports Europe's clean energy transition. It combines renewable energy with cultural preservation, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and price fluctuations. This showcases the compatibility of environmentally friendly energy with historical preservation, promoting innovation and public awareness. It inspires wider adoption of clean energy, fostering a sustainable future where clean energy and cultural heritage coexist harmoniously.
Project leader: Prof. Dr Juliane Jarke (Business Analytics and Data Science Center, Institute of Sociology)
Duration: 2024 - 2027
Funding: other public institutions
The state of digitalisation in public administration is currently the subject of critical debate in society. Perceptions of a lack of innovative strength and backwardness in international comparison dominate. In Germany, the digital transformation coincides with another social transformation process that should not be underestimated: demographic change. If we consider the two major social trends - the digital transformation of the state and public administration and demographic change - together, German pension insurance has a central role to play. For a growing number of citizens, German pension insurance is becoming the place where statehood materialises and can be experienced in everyday life. For a state that wants to proactively shape the digital transformation, the digitalisation of pension insurance is a key design tool. Digitalisation can lead to new forms of participation, but it can also create new inequalities or reinforce existing ones.
How social actors experience these change processes must be explored within a participatory research approach that focuses on lived experience and life-world expertise. The research project aims at such a participatory research approach and takes up a special organisational feature of the German Pension Insurance: social self-administration as a participatory organisational model that combines statutory insurance and civil society.
The initial hypothesis is that social self-administration, with its links to civil society, is an important element in making the digitalisation of statutory pension insurance low-threshold and inclusive. The research project examines (1) how the structures, processes and practices of social self-administration are changing as a result of digitalisation, (2) what opportunities and challenges are associated with this and (3) what contribution social self-administration can make to inclusive and citizen-oriented digital pension insurance.
A field of tension between ethics, technology and business
Project leader: Prof. Dr Thomas Gremsl (Institute for Ethics and Social Studies)
Cooperation: University Professor Dr Stefan Thalmann (Business Analytics and Data Science Centre)
Duration: 2024 - 2025
Funding: Province of Styria
This interdisciplinary research project aims to shed light on the social, political and economic impact of technological innovations, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Particular attention is paid to the automation of machine learning (AutoML) and the associated changes, especially in the design of ML systems as well as in the context of integration into business processes and their concrete application by experts.
In order to be able to adequately work on this project, Ethics and Business Analytics and Data Science will work together intensively within the framework of this project in order to contribute expertise from different specialist discourses and to be able to deal with the challenges associated with AutoML as broadly as possible. AutoML, which is being promoted as the democratisation of machine learning, enables experts with limited knowledge in the field of ML to create customised models. This lowers the barrier to entry, but carries the risk of a lack of awareness of technological limitations and design decisions. Ethics plays a key role as it focuses on the impact on human autonomy and freedom of choice. Traditional regulation and IT governance are reaching their limits here, as AutoML applications can be used without formal authorisation, which is known as shadow IT. It is necessary, for example, to develop special documentation guidelines for AI in order to apply the requirements for ML applications (FAT - Fairness, Accountability, Transparency) to AutoML. A central research desideratum lies in the ethical evaluation of AutoML applications, especially with regard to their use by experts. Ethics has an important orientation function, especially in the initial phases of technological developments, and should be intensively involved in these innovation processes.
Research projects 2023
FIWARE Driven Energy Communities for the Future
Prosumers and energy communities are part of modern energy systems and in some cases pursue different goals than previous players. They can collect detailed information about their consumption and generation. ECom4Future utilizes this information for more efficient planning and operation. Using a human-centered, multidisciplinary approach, we will gain additional insights into how technical, psychological and legal frameworks influence public support and willingness to participate more actively in future energy systems.
Based on the analysis of collected customer-level information, performance profiles from various sources will be used to support the planning of energy communities and prosumers, also taking into account psychological and legal frameworks. Market-based optimization algorithms are used to offer tailor-made solutions for setting up, structuring and operating complex prosumer plants and energy communities. By using machine learning to detect and diagnose faults, the data will be used to improve the availability and safety of technical systems at prosumer level. The efforts will be demonstrated and validated in the five international ECom4Future test facilities and laboratories, including a large-scale test facility with a grid-connected battery storage capacity of 140 kWh. With the observing participation of three energy communities, we aim for a continuous exchange of research findings and practical experience.
Project leader: Prof. Katja Corcoran. Other person involved: Prof. Maria Bertel
Duration: 01.11.2023 - 30.10.2026
Funding: FFG
Responsible use of AI in human resources
Project manager: Prof. Stefan Thalmann
Duration: 01.10.2023 - 30.09.2024
Funding: AK Styria
Artificial intelligence (AI) is now widespread in many areas of application and is also increasingly being used in human resources (HR). The areas of application there range from job interviews with the help of chatbots to the automated pre-selection of applicants. However, the use of AI in the sensitive HR area is not without its problems from an applicant's perspective, particularly due to a lack of transparency regarding selection decisions and the data used.
In contrast to traditional algorithms that are based on predefined (and human-defined) (if-then) rules, AI systems learn automatically from data using machine learning (ML) algorithms. This data-driven development makes it almost impossible for programmers (and users) to change procedural rules in a targeted manner. In most cases, these cannot even be understood. This limited knowledge of the procedural rules ultimately applied in AI has earned them the nickname "black box systems". When AIs are involved in personnel decisions, practitioners therefore neither know the rules according to which these decisions are made, nor which elements of the data basis are used. This harbors many risks, such as unintentional discrimination against candidates, the weighting of legally prohibited criteria (e.g. pregnancy, disability, trade union membership) or the collection of information protected by data protection law.
Project leader: Prof. Dr Maria Bertel (Institute for Public Law and Political Science)
Duration: 2023 - 2025
Funding: FFG
Development of the requirements and restrictions (technical, legal, ethical) of user-centred energy services for energy-efficient intelligent buildings (new buildings, existing buildings) based on personal comfort models. In the legal part, in particular data protection and building law framework conditions are analysed.
The impact of AI-supported systems on work design
Project leader: Prof. Bettina Kubicek
Duration: 01.02.2023 - 30.09.2024
Funding: AK Vienna
Previous work on artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace has primarily focused on ethical and legal aspects and usually looks at gig work. The impact of AI on work design in knowledge work has been largely neglected. In this project, we therefore explore the potential positive and negative effects of AI on key work characteristics of knowledge workers. We are also investigating the extent to which personal skills support employees in dealing with AI. To this end, a Delphi study and an online experiment will be conducted. Both methods serve to identify the potential effects of AI on work design and employees. The online experiment also examines the role of personal skills in dealing with AI. The results will be used to derive recommendations for the humane design of work with AI systems and for training opportunities, which will be prepared in the form of a handbook.
Research projects 2022
Project head: Prof. Dr. Bettina Kubicek, Prof. Dr. Stefan Thalmann Team: Christine Malin, MA, Rita Prassl, BSc
Funding: Smart Regulation
The way people apply for jobs has changed significantly and companies are increasingly using chatbots in their application processes. Chatbots primarily support pre-selection and the collection of data about applicants. However, it is still largely unclear how to process this data for recruiters so that fair, transparent and accountable decisions are made.
In this project, a dashboard for the visualization of large amounts of data collected by chatbots for recruiters will be developed in a design study.
Project head: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Viktoria Robertson, Dr. Jürgen Fleiß, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Matthias Wendland Team: Mag. Franziska Guggi, Mag. Lukas Soritz
Funding: Smart Regulation
Cartels and other anti-competitive behaviour by companies have a negative impact on the economy and on consumers. To detect such anti-competitive behaviour, competition authorities need reliable tools. Recently, new data-driven approaches have started to emerge in the area of computational antitrust that can complement already established tools.
The project DataComp creates a systematic overview of case studies on data-driven detection of antitrust violations, the data needed to do so, and the availability of such data in Austria. Building on these technical capabilities, we examine the legal significance of this state of the art from the perspective of Austrian and European public antitrust enforcement. Finally, we develop a legal framework that sets new legal parameters that would allow for a stronger integration of data-based antitrust violation notifications into Austrian and European enforcement mechanisms.
Open Access Publication: Ready or not? A systematic review of case studies using data-driven approaches to detect real-world antitrust violations
The aim of the project is to promote judicial cooperation in civil matters and to contribute to the effective and coherent application and enforcement of EU instruments, in particular facilitating cross-border procedures in regards to taking of evidence and service of documents.
Duration: 01.06.2022 - 31.05.2024
Team: Univ.-Prof. Bettina Nunner-Krautgasser (Project Leader University of Graz), Mag. Tobias Weidinger, Mag. Julian Schnur. Further project partners: Lead University of Maribor, University of Wroclaw, University of Uppsala, University of Maastricht, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University of Hannover, Faculty of Law Rijeka.
Funding: European Commission
Project team: Univ. Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Hödl (Institut für Rechtswissenschaftliche Grundlagen), Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Gremsl (Institut für Ethik und Gesellschaftslehre), PhD Student: Carmen Oberreßl, MA
Planned duration: 01.02.2022-31.12.2022
Funding: Smart Regulation
The project deals with legal and ethical questions of datafication of human emotions. In particular, it raises the question of how emotions are to be classified in (data protection) law and how "emotion recognition systems" in the sense of the by the European Commission submitted draft for an Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) are to be evaluated from the point of view of this definition and with regard to the risk-based approach. As it turns out, the "fundamental right to freedom of thought" as well as the question of "common welfare" become relevant in this context, especially when such systems are combined with others, such as scoring models.
Project Team: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Dr. Georg Schneider (Institut für Unternehmensrechnung und Reporting), Prof. Alfred Wagenhofer, Prof. Ralf Ewert, Prof. Michael Kopel. Assigned unit: Center for Accounting Research.
Duration: 2022 - 2026
Funding: FWF
Environmental concerns and sustainability aspects are playing an increasingly important role in society and the political debate. In addition to environmental aspects, sustainability also includes social concerns and aspects of good corporate governance, such as respect for human rights and the prevention of corruption and bribery.
The great importance of sustainability is demonstrated, among other things, by the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015, in which a large number of countries agreed to limit man-made global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius in this century. As a result, at the European level, the European Green Deal was unveiled in 2019 to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent.
It is clear that companies must make a significant contribution to the EU's sustainability goals. At the European level, the goal is that increased transparency should lead to a change in corporate behavior. This change in behavior can be triggered, among other things, by pressure from capital markets and product markets. In recent years, transparency rules for companies have been significantly expanded with regard to sustainability aspects, and stricter rules are currently being drafted. Soon, there should also be European standards for sustainability reporting, which would serve as a global model.
Unfortunately, there is currently hardly any theoretical foundation for sustainability reporting. The current legal initiatives can only be crowned with success if the regulation developed is clever in the sense that it fulfills the desired purpose in the best possible way. Thus, one would like to see a so-called "smart regulation". Since there are currently few empirical findings because sustainability reporting has only recently become relevant for companies, a theoretical foundation is of utmost importance.
The aim of the research project is to close exactly this gap. On the basis of a mathematical or game-theoretical modeling, essential mechanisms of action and also unintended effects of transparency rules are to be shown. On the one hand, the expected results will be used to estimate future developments. On the other hand, the results will serve as support for political decision makers and standard setters in the development of laws and standards.
The extent of money laundered is expected to account for about 4% of world GDP. Therefore, many countries have tried to protect their financial systems against money laundering by more stringently regulating and supervising their financial institutions. In recent years, many internationally operating banks involved in money laundering or violating regulatory rules have been identified. This project aims at drawing a landscape of the most significant stakeholders involved in and affected by infractions of Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) rules, and the prevention thereof. The perspectives in four empirical analyses range from stakeholders (regulators, bank shareholders and clients of banks) who have a role in curtailing AML infractions and fostering sound operational risk management, to competing banks which might be affected by the misbehavior of other banks, and finally to the role of (social) media in disseminating news about AML infractions.
Duration: 01.10.2022-31.03.2026
Funding: Jubiläumsfonds der OeNB
Project head: Univ.-Prof. Andrea Schertler
Project leader: Prof. Dr Bettina Kubicek (Institute of Psychology)
Duration: 2022 - 2023
Funding: other public institutions
The project builds on the NERD project and maps strategies for dealing with the dissolution of boundaries at the transition from the pandemic to a new working reality with extended home office regulations. The handling of working time and work location flexibility as well as the phenomenon of delimitation are evaluated in a longitudinal study with regard to newly emerging framework conditions and their interpretation and application in everyday life by managers and employees. The effects of the permanent digital availability of work in the home office on the one hand and of employees for professional matters on the other on job satisfaction and work motivation, general well-being and stress levels are recorded, quantitatively analysed and qualitatively validated using an app at defined points in time. The result will be an app for reflecting on one's own boundary-breaking behaviour and its effects, as well as a manual with tools and recommendations for designing flexible working hours and work locations and for dealing with boundary-breaking. The project will be accompanied by effective public relations work to evaluate the transition from the pandemic to a new working reality and the results will be made available to the works councils, which act as project partners, on an ongoing basis to support their activities.
The aim of this project is to gain clear insights on taxpayer behavior in the SME-sector and to propose measures to (newly) regulate tax enforcement with regard to small and medium-sized enterprises. In this context, it is particularly important to strike a balance between effectiveness and efficiency on the one hand and adequate protection of the individual’s freedom on the other. In concrete terms, the present project aims at exploring options and creating synergies by means of interdisciplinary cooperation. Within the framework of a follow-up project (with an even broader interdisciplinary set-up), further third-party funding shall be acquired to conceptualize an innovative tax enforcement strategy for the SME sector that can be implemented in Austria and serve as an inspiration and a model for other countries.
Project team: Assoz .-Prof. Dr. Barbara Gunacker-Slawitsch, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Katja Corcoran
Project partner: Assoz.-Prof. Dr. Robert Rybnicek
Funding: Smart Regulation
Research projects 2021
Project leader: Prof. Dr Bettina Kubicek (Institute of Psychology)
Duration: 2021 - 2023
Funding: FFG
In order to increase trust in robotic systems and reduce cognitive load, the project aims to develop sound methods for measuring trust in assistance systems and the cognitive load caused by their use. Furthermore, possible interventions in (1) the design of the user interface, (2) the selection, processing and presentation of information from the robot system and the environment, and (3) the behaviour of the robot in its environment and the interactions during delegation and re-delegation will be investigated to improve these parameters.
The primary innovation of the project is that trust and cognitive load as well as measures to improve them will be investigated in an interdisciplinary team (psychologists, visualisation experts, roboticists, emergency personnel). The planned direct coupling of the assessment of trust and cognitive load with possible changes in the interaction design and behaviour of the robot or adaptation of these parameters at runtime will provide new insights into the nature of trust in assistance robots and enable the development of improved assistance systems.
EC² - Energy Citizenship and Energy Communities for a Clean-Energy Transition
Project leader at the University of Graz: Prof Dr Katja Corcoran (Institute of Psychology)
Other persons involved: Prof. Brigitta Lurger (Institute for Civil Law, Foreign and International Private Law), Ao. Prof. Ursula Athenstaedt (Institute of Psychology)
Duration: 2021 - 2024
Funding: EU (European Commission)
A core element of the transition to clean energy is greater involvement of citizens in the energy system. Such civic engagement, active participation and interaction with institutional and corporate actors in the energy sector can be aptly described with the term "Energy Citizenship". In EC², we strive for a stringent conceptualisation of energy citizenship based on the perspective of the various social sciences and humanities. In particular, we will integrate the understanding of economists, legal scholars and psychologists to define energy citizenship and develop a measurement tool to assess energy citizenship.
We will then analyse energy citizenship specifically within and in relation to energy communities in a collaborative process together with practice partners (energy communities and municipalities in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Poland) and other stakeholders in the energy sector. The focus will be on identifying mechanisms that either hinder or promote energy citizenship. These theoretical findings will then be tested in several laboratory and field studies using quantitative, empirical methods.
In close cooperation with citizens in energy communities, decision-makers in interested municipalities and scientists, the resulting findings will be used to develop concrete, supportive tools and translated into practical recommendations for policy-makers in order to achieve the energy and decarbonisation goals in the European Union.
Project leader: Prof. Dr Martina Schmidhuber (Institute for Moral Theology)
Cooperation: Prof. Dr Thomas Gremsl (Institute of Ethics and Social Theology)
Duration: 2021 - 2022
Funding: Province of Styria
Around 43,000 children in Austria are considered young carers - children under the age of 18 who care for a parent at home. Qualitative interviews with young carers are used to investigate whether digital technologies (smartphones, tablets, apps, etc.) can help these children in Styria a) to better care for their parents by providing valuable information, b) to participate as well as possible in social life themselves.
Research projects 2020
Justice without Litigation for Europe (JuWiLi)
Project leader: Prof. Brigitta Lurger (Institute for Civil Law, Foreign and Private International Law)
Duration: 2020 - 2022
Funding: EU, Justice Programme (2014-2020)
The project "Justice without Litigation for Europe" (JuWiLi), co-financed by the European Union under the Justice Programme, has been launched on 1 December 2020. The project's core objective is an in-depth analysis of non-contentious judicial proceedings (frequently carried out by notaries) in the participating countries, against the background of the term "court" in EU instruments. Project partners of the two-year project are the chambers of notaries of Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Slovakia and Slovenia, the Universities of Vienna and Graz, the Economic Research Institute Economia and the Council of Notaries of the European Union (CNUE).
The H2020 project ETAPAS explores disruptive technologies to be used in public administration. The aim of ETAPAS is to develop a framework for a responsible use of disruptive technologies in the public sector together with representatives of public authorities. The ETAPAS team at the University of Graz is working with partner institutions from Italy, Denmark, Norway, Greece, Belgium, Sweden and France. A software prototype will be developed to enable the ethical assessment of disruptive technologies in the public sector, such as Big Open Data applications or the use of AI to detect Fake News.
Project management at the University of Graz: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Tina Ehrke-Rabel.
Laufzeit: 01.11.2020-31.10.2023
Further information on the ETAPAS project.
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101004594.
Innovative Data Environment @ Styria
Project leader: Prof. Dr Stefan Thalmann (Business Analytics and Data Science Centre)
Duration: 2020 - 2022
Funding: Province of Styria
The aim of this project is to create a collaborative concept for the development of a Styrian RegioData reference region, including initial theoretical approaches for a Styrian demonstrator. The planned project is to be implemented in a bottom-up approach together with Styrian clusters and relevant organisations as well as interest groups from the economy. The overarching goal is to strengthen the Styrian higher education and economic area and to increase the visibility of Styria at European level in the field of data science
Project leader: Dr Lily Zechner (Institute for Financial Law)
Duration: 2020 - 2023
Funding: ÖAW (Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Internet platforms play a central role in today's economy, as they significantly support the conclusion and execution of transactions via the Internet. They connect users who may be physically located anywhere in the world and make it easier for them to provide (digital or analogue) services in the VAT sense. The direct digital networking of people means that services are exchanged directly between users ("peer-to-peer"). In many cases, these users see themselves as "private individuals" and not as entrepreneurs. Services that an entrepreneur performs for his company in return for payment are subject to VAT (Section 1 (1) UStG, Art. 2 VAT Directive). Entrepreneurs are integrated into the tax debt relationship and are obliged to pay the tax (§§ 19 ff UStG, Art 193 ff VAT Directive). For transactions via internet platforms, it is therefore essential from the perspective of VAT law to identify the traders involved.
Intermediaries are traders who facilitate transactions between individual economic operators or support an economic operator in the fulfilment of its obligations towards the state. By acting as intermediaries, they become knowledge carriers in what are often purely private relationships. As "vicarious agents", they assume obligations to inform and act vis-à-vis the state (known as "taking on obligations", e.g. Section 143 BAO). In this way, intermediaries contribute to efficient tax enforcement. This is because, on the one hand, the tax authorities learn of the taxable events that have occurred and, on the other hand, the increased probability of discovery increases the willingness of taxpayers to disclose tax-relevant circumstances themselves. Centrally organised internet platforms can act as intermediaries - they have a wealth of information that is of extraordinary value for taxation. In the case of distributed internet platforms, the state must first identify the responsible parties. The dissertation project investigates how the exclusion of the intermediary or the development towards the digital and therefore often intangible intermediary affects VAT.
As a result, the dissertation will show whether and how (VAT) enforcement can function in a "borderless" economy and demonstrate how far the often-mentioned disruptive force of the "platform economy" actually extends for the law. Due to the EU-wide harmonisation of VAT law and the fact that transactions via internet platforms cross territorial enforcement borders, this topic is not only a valuable research topic for Austria.
Digital? Safe! Learning app to increase the digital skills of young people
Project leader: University Professor Dr Stefan Thalmann (Business Analytics and Data Science Centre)
Duration: 2020 - 2023
Funding: Province of Styria
The aim of the "Digital? Safe!" project was to develop a digital learning game on the topic of cybersecurity and data handling awareness for young people in grades 9-13. However, we identified major differences in prior knowledge, which is why we limited the age group to 14 to 16-year-olds in order to optimise the level of difficulty and the topics. The educational game is intended to raise future employees' awareness of information and communication technologies (ICT) and prepare them for professional practice in order to prevent ICT security incidents in companies caused by human error.
Drawing boundaries between work and private life: Evidence-based guidelines on ICT use for a fair approach to delimited working time
Project leader: Prof. Dr Bettina Kubicek (Institute of Psychology)
Duration: 2020 - 2023
Funding: other public institutions
This project investigates the extent to which the use of new technologies (especially ICTs) affects the demarcation between employees' work and private lives and how they can be used specifically to counteract the blurring of boundaries and enable fair working hours.