Dear Visitors,

the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation was created on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the European Recovery Program, popularly known as the Marshall Plan, which was initiated by U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall in 1947. The Foundation commissions research work in the fields of economics and social sciences. Research projects are carried out in the framework of Austrian guest professorships in the U.S., conferences, lectures and symposia in Austria and the U.S., post graduate research fellowships and awards for scholarly publications.

It is a non profit endowment established to promote transatlantic exchange of knowledge. Now, we look back at some fruitful years of close cooperation with the University of California at Berkley, the John Hopkins University - SAIS and the University of New Orleans.

The Berkley Austria-Exchange Program gives young American and Austrian researchers the opportunity to live and work abroad. SAIS is a partner of the cross border project ‘Wider Europe’, which is aiming at scientific insights on the region in between the EU and Russia.

The Marshall Plan Chair at the University of New Orleans was established in 2000 and has been filled ever since.

Based on the excellent experience with our American partners, the Foundation has created a studies exchange program, reaching throughout the U.S. As an expression of the appreciation of our activities, the Unites States and Austria have reached an agreement to continue supporting this program over a period of ten years for up to 1000 participants. The implementation of this program will be on our focus in the upcoming years.

We would like to thank all our supporters and sponsors for their tremendous help in expressing the gratitude for the Marshall Plan by the people of Austria.

Vienna, September 2007

Eugen Stark, Wolfgang Stoiber