Matthias Weber is Head of Center for Innovation Systems & Policy at Austrian Institute of Technology AIT in Vienna and Professor at UMR-LISIS, Université Gustave Eiffel (UGE).
He has degrees in process engineering and political sciences, and a doctorate in economics, all assigned by University of Stuttgart. Before joining AIT in 2000, he had been working for several years at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in Italy and Spain and at the University of Manchester. He joined UGE in 2019 to reinforce collaboration between Austria and France on studies of transformative and mission-oriented research and innovation policy, STI indicators, strategic foresight and formative evaluation.
His research interests cover the transformation of socio-technical systems in a variety of domains (currently in particular in the urban context), the design, governance, monitoring and evaluation of transformative and mission-oriented innovation policies, and the embedding of foresight in policymaking. He was coordinator of and contributor to several national European research and policy advisory projects over the past years, including RISIS I & II (Research Infrastructure for Science and Innovation Policy Studies), BOHEMIA (Beyond the Horizon: Foresight in Support of the EU’s Future Policy on Research and Innovation), and Foresight towards the 2nd Strategic Plan for Horizon Europe. Since 2019, he has been director of the multi-annual framework contract on Foresight on Demand for European Commission and several European agencies. He is currently also leading the Austrian Mission Facility, providing scientific support and advice to the Austrian government in implementing the five EU missions. Matthias was member of several European Commission high-level expert groups on foresight and on research and innovation policy. Currently, he is member of the High-Level Group on Accelerating Sustainability Technologies, advising the European Council, and the OECD Scientific Advisory Board on the Transformative Agenda 2030. Since 2025, he is also president of the EU-SPRI Forum (European Forum for Studies of Policies on Research and Innovation).

CV (en francais)

Matthias Weber est directeur du Center for Innovation Systems and Policy à AIT Austrian Institute of Technology et Professeur au UMR-LISIS, Université Gustave Eiffel (UGE). Il a des diplomes universitaire en Ingénierie des Procédés Industriels et en Science Politiques, aussi qu’un doctorat en Économie Politique, tous délivrés par l’IUniversité de Stuttgart. Avant de joindre AIT, il a travaillé plusieurs années au Centre Commun de Recherche de la Commission Européenne en Italy et en Espagne, et aussi à l’Université de Manchester. Il a rejoint l’UGE en 2019 afin de renforcer la collaboration entre l’Autriche et la France dans les domaines suivants : études sur les politiques de recherche et d’innovation transformatrices et axées sur les missions, indicateurs STI, prospective stratégique et évaluation formative.
Sa recherche est focalisée sur la transformation des systèmes socio-technique dans une varieté de domaines (actuellement dans le contexte urbain), le développement, la gouvernance, le monitoring et l’evaluation de politiques d’innovation transformatives et axées sur des missions, et l’incorporation de la prospective dans l’élaboration des politiques.Il était coordinateur de plusieurs projets Européen de recherche et consultatifs, comme RISIS I & II (Research Infrastructure for Science and Innovation Policy Studies), BOHEMIA (Beyond the Horizon: Foresight in Support of the EU’s Future Policy on Research and Innovation), et Foresight towards the 2nd Strategic Plan for Horizon Europe. Depuis 2019, il est aussi directeur d’un contrat-cadre “Foresight on Demand” qui sert d’appui à la Commission Européenne et plusieurs agences Européennes. Matthias était membres de plusieurs groupes d’experts de la Commission Européenne, entre autres sur la prospective et les politique de recherche et d’innovation. Actuellement il conseille le Conseil Européen comme membre du groupe d’expert sur l’accélération du développement des technologies durables, et il est membre du Conseil consultatif scientifique de l’OCDE sur l’agenda transformative 2030.
Depuis 2025, il est aussi président du Forum EU-SPRI (European Forum for Studies of Policies on Research and Innovation).

Selected publications:

Polt, W., Weber, M. (2026): The rediscovery of mission orientation in research and innovation policy in Europe: in need of new state capacities, in: Cantner, U., Fornahl, D., Kuhlmann, S. (eds.): The New Role of the State for Transformative Innovation. An International Research Handbook, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 92-107

Edler, J., Matt, M., Polt, W., Weber, M. (eds.)(2025): Transformative mission-oriented innovation policies: Revisiting the role of science, technology and innovation in society,
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Weber, K. M. (2025): Transformational innovation policies: about promises, criticisms and differentiations, Journal of Innovation Economics and Management, 48(3), 117-142

Priebe, M., Warnke, P., Weber, K.M. (2025): Setting the scene for discussing innovation policy directions: Foresight as a practice of synchronizing, Futures, 103681
Havas, A., Schartinger, D., Weber, K.M. (2023): Innovation studies, social innovation, and sustainability transitions research: From mutual ignorance towards an integrative perspective?, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 48, 100754

Janssen, M.J., Wesseling, J., Torrens, J., Weber, K.M., Penna, C., Klerkx, L. (2023):Missions as boundary objects for transformative change: understanding coordination across policy, research, and stakeholder communities, Science and Public Policy, 50(3), 398-415

Botthof, A., Edler, J., Hahn, K., Hirsch-Kreinsen, H., Weber, M., Wessels, J. (eds.)(2023): Transformative und agile Innovationssysteme: neue Praktiken und innovationspolitische
Herausforderungen, Frankfurt a.M.: Campus

Wanzenböck, I., Wesseling, J.H., Frenken, K., Hekkert, M.P., Weber, K.M. (2020): A framework for mission-oriented innovation policy: Alternative pathways through the
problem–solution space, Science and Public Policy

Weber, K.M., Truffer, B. (2017): Moving innovation systems research to the next level, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 33(1), 101-121

Weber, K. M., Rohracher, H. (2012): Legitimizing research, technology and innovation policies for transformative change: Combining insights from innovation systems and multi-level perspective in a comprehensive ‘failures’ framework, Research Policy, 41(6), 1037-1047