We make science accessible
The VISTA Science Experience Center is a vibrant place for interaction and dialogue between science and society. We develop ideas, concepts, and materials to foster the understanding of science as a process and make cutting-edge research accessible.
Our mission
Conveying how science creates knowledge
If you want to make good decisions, you need to be able to obtain, sort, and evaluate information. That is exactly what science does. It has been doing so for centuries. And in doing so, it creates solid knowledge.
The VISTA Science Experience Center is located in the middle of the campus of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria. People from over 80 countries work at ISTA. What they all have in common is their curiosity and enthusiasm for questions that do not have answers yet. Computers may be getting better and better at sorting and summarizing enormous amounts of data, but curiosity, asking novel questions, creative problem-solving, and genuine discovery remain deeply human characteristics.
We want to encourage this unique ability to discover new things with enthusiasm and work passionately on solutions for the future in as many people as possible – from kindergarten to old age.
Because we are convinced that a society that understands research and its processes, and trusts science, will not only be more successful economically, but will also be able to take on challenges more actively.
VISTA Science Experience Center
We invite you to immerse yourself in the world of cutting-edge research. In doing so, we are redefining the way we engage with science.
Far more than a museum or a visitor center, the VISTA Science Experience Center is a vibrant meeting place where scientific research, curiosity, artistic exploration, and open dialogue come together. Visitors experience science not as a collection of facts, but as a dynamic process shaped by questions, creativity, and collaboration.
The VISTA Science Experience Center reveals what happens at the edge of our knowledge—how new research questions arise and how science strives to find answers.
We make cutting-edge research accessible
Accessibility also shapes the architecture of the VISTA Science Experience Center. Embedded within the research campus of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, the building invites for direct dialogue with science. Open, light-flooded rooms and a distinctly curved roof symbolize the dynamics and openness of cutting-edge research in the 21st century. The 9.000 roof tiles mirror the vibrant atmosphere on campus, and the VISTA Coffee Lab invites conversation, exchange, or simply relaxation.
The VISTA Team
The VISTA team develops, pilots, and runs a whole range of activities, building bridges between science and society.
Support VISTA
Science is the basis for innovation and our prosperity of tomorrow. And science education is the basis for a society where science is valued and fundamental research can flourish.
The activities of the VISTA Science Experience Center promote understanding of science based on evidence-based didactic methods and innovative formats. They directly impact the many visitors, and by extending proven formats into teacher education, they have a long-term effect on the education system.
This is made possible through our strong network with national and international partners in the science education field, the support from various funding bodies, and donations from people who share our vision. Because only together can we achieve sustainable transformation and strengthen Austria's self-image as a science nation.
Become part of the VISTA mission
Questions about your donation to the VISTA Science Experience Center will be gladly answered by the Development & Partnership Team at ISTA.