Johannes Hahn was sworn in as Minister of Science and Research on 11 January 2007, as part of the Austrian Federal Government under Alfred Gusenbauer, then from 2 December 2008 as part of the First Faymann government.

Amongst other things, in his work Hahn has placed a particular focus on improving public relations for people and institutions working in and around the fields of science and research.
Numerous campaigns, events and projects have promoted “Children's University” projects, the "Sparkling Science" programme, the "Visibility Measures" to raise public awareness of the work done by women scientists, the Forte Coaching Programme, the “Long Night of Research”, as well as various awards, such as the Wittgenstein Prize.
Hahn's aim has been to bring more researchers into the public eye as, for example, he publicly called upon the Austrian Academy of Sciences to "come out of their ivory tower".

During Hahn's term of office, all graduates of degree programmes at Fachhochschulen were given equal status to their university graduate counterparts in the civil service and all students enrolled in Fachhochschule study programmes have been recognised as full members of the Austrian Students' Association (ÖH) since December 2007.
In April 2008, Hahn announced the first ever budget increase (average of 13.7 per cent more per university place) in the history of Austrian Fachhochschulen.

One of Hahn's aims has been to raise public awareness of the great number of successful women in science and research in Austria by means of the so-called  "Visibility Measures" which were launched in 2008.

This included media training, a film script competition on the topic of women scientists, the fForte Coaching Programme as well as the appointment of women scientists to management positions
In co-operation with Austrian booksellers, Hahn launched an initiative in autumn 2007 to select the best scientific book of the year.

In 2008 Hahn created the "Award of Excellence" for the best doctoral theses in Austria, as a way of recognising the work of young scientists and making the public more aware of their activities.
Each of them received 2,500 euro in prize money.
Nominations for these awards were made by the vice-chancellors of Austrian universities.

Hahn has also continued the tradition of awarding the Wittgenstein Prize, a science prize with the highest money value in Austria (1.5 million euro), which attracts a great deal of media attention and is tied to research activities in the following six years.

The Long Night of Research was re-introduced under Minister Hahn after an interval of several years as an important way to communicate enthusiasm for and information about research and to provide a platform on which researchers can show to the wider public their work and their commitment.

With Hahn as Minister of Science Austria finally become, on 1 July 2008, the 14th member of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which astronomers had been calling for Austria to join for over thirty years .
Hahn himself stated that joining ESO had been one of the most significant political decisions in the field of research for 20 years, from which not only astronomers but also physicists, mathematicians, software specialists and high-tech companies would benefit.
At the beginning of 2009, contracts had been formulated that will benefit Austrian scientists to the total amount of 5 million euro, leading to a boom in the field of Austrian astronomy.

Hahn also announced in May 2009, during a parliamentary sub-committee debate on the Austrian science and research budget for 2009 and 2010, that he wanted to end Austria's 50-year membership of CERN as of 2010 because the costs were too high (up to 70 per cent of the total Austrian resources available for membership of research associations go for the 16 million euro annual CERN membership fee).
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann publicly spoke out against a withdrawal from CERN.
An actual withdrawal would have also required a decision of the National Council.

In addition to support for applied and economicall
Johannes Hahn was sworn in as Minister of Science and Research on 11 January 2007, as part of the Austrian Federal Government under Alfred Gusenbauer, then from 2 December 2008 as part of the First Faymann government.
Amongst other things, in his work Hahn has placed a particular focus on improving public relations for people and institutions working in and around the fields of science and research. Numerous campaigns, events and projects have promoted “Children's University” projects, the "Sparkling Science" programme, the "Visibility Measures" to raise public awareness of the work done by women scientists, the Forte Coaching Programme, the “Long Night of Research”, as well as various awards, such as the Wittgenstein Prize. Hahn's aim has been to bring more researchers into the public eye as, for example, he publicly called upon the Austrian Academy of Sciences to "come out of their ivory tower".
During Hahn's term of office, all graduates of degree programmes at Fachhochschulen were given equal status to their university graduate counterparts in the civil service and all students enrolled in Fachhochschule study programmes have been recognised as full members of the Austrian Students' Association (ÖH) since December 2007. In April 2008, Hahn announced the first ever budget increase (average of 13.7 per cent more per university place) in the history of Austrian Fachhochschulen.
One of Hahn's aims has been to raise public awareness of the great number of successful women in science and research in Austria by means of the so-called  "Visibility Measures" which were launched in 2008. 
This included media training, a film script competition on the topic of women scientists, the fForte Coaching Programme as well as the appointment of women scientists to management positions
In co-operation with Austrian booksellers, Hahn launched an initiative in autumn 2007 to select the best scientific book of the year.
In 2008 Hahn created the "Award of Excellence" for the best doctoral theses in Austria, as a way of recognising the work of young scientists and making the public more aware of their activities. Each of them received 2,500 euro in prize money. Nominations for these awards were made by the vice-chancellors of Austrian universities.
Hahn has also continued the tradition of awarding the Wittgenstein Prize, a science prize with the highest money value in Austria (1.5 million euro), which attracts a great deal of media attention and is tied to research activities in the following six years.
The Long Night of Research was re-introduced under Minister Hahn after an interval of several years as an important way to communicate enthusiasm for and information about research and to provide a platform on which researchers can show to the wider public their work and their commitment.
With Hahn as Minister of Science Austria finally become, on 1 July 2008, the 14th member of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which astronomers had been calling for Austria to join for over thirty years . Hahn himself stated that joining ESO had been one of the most significant political decisions in the field of research for 20 years, from which not only astronomers but also physicists, mathematicians, software specialists and high-tech companies would benefit. At the beginning of 2009, contracts had been formulated that will benefit Austrian scientists to the total amount of 5 million euro, leading to a boom in the field of Austrian astronomy.
Hahn also announced in May 2009, during a parliamentary sub-committee debate on the Austrian science and research budget for 2009 and 2010, that he wanted to end Austria's 50-year membership of CERN as of 2010 because the costs were too high (up to 70 per cent of the total Austrian resources available for membership of research associations go for the 16 million euro annual CERN membership fee). Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann publicly spoke out against a withdrawal from CERN. An actual withdrawal would have also required a decision of the National Council.
In addition to support for applied and economicall
Johannes Hahn