Quality Assurance as an “Enabler” of Integrity: Activities & Projects
AQ Austria understands quality assurance not merely as a regulatory requirement, but as an active “enabler” for fostering a culture of integrity in academic and artistic study, teaching, and research activities. Our goal is to support higher education institutions in tailoring their integrity frameworks to their specific needs and to promote the related exchange between teaching, research, and study programmes.
Strategic Priorities
Our work is based on three central pillars aimed at sustainably embedding integrity in the Austrian Higher Education Area:
- Proactive Support: Integrating integrity issues into external quality assurance (accreditations and audits)
- Exchange of expertise: Preparing experts for quality assurance and providing examples of best practices through publications
- Networking: Intensive (inter)national collaboration with partners such as ÖAWI, GAIN, ENAI, or ENQA
Exchange & Publications
Through conferences and events (such as the AQ Austria Annual Conferences in 2024 and 2025), examples of best practices from all higher education sectors were highlighted. A central component of our work is documenting current developments. The latest conference publication (2024/2025) compiles the findings from our annual conferences. It offers higher education stakeholders in-depth insights into areas of action and ways forward, particularly in light of the rapid changes of the conditions for integrity within the Austrian and International Higher Education Area.
Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis of these processes and activities will be published as part of the AQ Austria Three-Year Report 2027/28.