Tobias Thomas is the new Head of Research at EcoAustria

Dr. Tobias Thomas is the new Head of Research at EcoAustria - Institute for Economic Research. He takes over the management of the institute from Dr. Ulrich Schuh, who moved to the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy as Head of Section at the turn of the year.

"We are delighted to have gained Tobias Thomas, a proven scientific expert who also brings extensive experience in policy advice and knowledge transfer to the work of EcoAustria," says Dr. Josef Moser, President of EcoAustria.

Thomas believes that a key task of research institutes is to bring research findings and scientific expertise into the public debate in an understandable way. "In democracies, it is ultimately the voters who decide as sovereigns," says Thomas. "I would prefer them to do this more on the basis of scientifically sound information and less on the basis of promises of salvation. Especially now that the age of the post-factual is being proclaimed in some places, economics can make an important contribution to objectifying the debate and making it more sustainable," emphasizes Thomas. "I am very much looking forward to working on this together with the EcoAustria team."

Dr. Tobias Thomas has an excellent academic network and is academically affiliated with the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE) and the Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CCRS) at the University of Zurich, among others. Thomas also has extensive experience in knowledge transfer to politics and the public. Since 2007, Thomas has been Chairman of ECONWATCH - Gesellschaft für Politikanalyse e.V., an independent, non-partisan and non-profit organization with the task of providing scientifically sound information on economic policy and highlighting opportunities for reform.

EcoAustria has been an independent economic research institute in the Austrian scientific landscape for five years. Using high-quality, scientific methods, EcoAustria examines issues relevant to economic policy and contributes to the current economic policy debate in Austria and abroad in a comprehensible form.