About us

The Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Technology, Work and Culture (IFZ) is a registered, non-profit scientific association (ZVR-Zahl 193954517). IFZ was founded in the year 1988 with the objective to address technology as a social process and to integrate social issues into engineering studies.

Working within the critical areas of a debate between science and policy, reflection and intervention, the prime objective of IFZ today is to contribute to socially and environmentally sound, sustainable and gender-equitable technology design.

IFZ has been aiming at gender justice since its founding. Since 2006 two elected ombudspersons are dealing with gender equality issues. In 2013 IFZ implemented its first Gender Equality Plan, in 2022 it was decided to implement an updated Gender Equality Plan.

The IFZ is mainly financed through research contracts. Our clients and partners include governmental bodies at municipal, provincial, federal and international level along with research institutions and companies.

The IFZ receives institutional sponsorship from the Province of Styria and City of Graz.

There is a close cooperation between the association IFZ and the Graz University of Technology.