Austria sets off on road towards 'milestone' on research landscape

Brussels, 18 Nov 2004

'The Med-AUSTRON project is one of the largest research projects in Austrian history and a milestone for the Austrian research landscape,' declared the country's Education and Science Minister, Elisabeth Gehrer after the Council of Ministers accepted a report on the project.

Med-AUSTRON is intended to be a Central European centre of excellence for radiotherapy as well as medical and non-medical research. The project has been in the pipeline for several years, but construction is now expected to begin fairly soon.

The technology at the centre will use ion beams to treat tumours located dangerously close to vital and sensitive organs, as well as specific types of primary tumours. Patients with these types of tumours must currently travel abroad for treatment. The government believes that when fully operational in 2013, the centre will be able to treat 1,200 patients per year.

The ion beam therapy to be used at Med-AUSTRON is new and believed to be far more effective than conventional proton forms of therapy. Further research is, however, needed in order to further develop the technology. The results are likely to prove interesting for those working in materials and biomedical research.

The total cost of the project is expected to run to 116.6 million euro, up to 41 million of which will be provided by the government.

For further information on Med-AUSTRON, please visit:
http:///www.medaustron.at/

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