His extensive social science expertise will be highly relevant to the major challenges facing our country in the coming months and years. Martin Kocher was appointed Director in 2016 in the course of an international tender by the IHS board of trustees and has been in office for exactly four and a half years. Subsequently, Kocher was also appointed Professor at the University of Vienna. As Director of IHS, Martin Kocher has driven forward the reorientation of the Institute, together with Secretary General Eva Liebmann-Pesendorfer. Liebmann-Pesendorfer will carry out the management of the IHS alone on an interim basis. The boards will deal with the next steps in a timely manner. IHS remains committed to its scientific tasks and is fully capable of acting.
Martin Kocher is recognized and respected as an expert on various areas of economic and social policy far beyond Austria. As such, he has also been regularly featured in the country's major media in recent years. Decisive for his outstanding achievements at IHS are his insatiable scientific curiosity and his willingness to take up socio-political issues in his research. With these qualities, Martin Kocher was instrumental in moving IHS forward. These qualities also make him an excellent choice to fill the post of Minister of Labor.
We wish Martin Kocher all the best for his new challenge as minister!