Through DIVERSITEC, AC2T is translating awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion into practical organisational development. The initiative is strengthening leadership, HR processes, internal collaboration and the structures required to create an inclusive and future-ready workplace.
Creating lasting benefits for AC2T
The project supports AC2T in four key areas:
- Strengthening leadership: Diversity and inclusion become a shared management responsibility.
- Enhancing the employee experience: Recruitment, onboarding and professional development are addressed more systematically.
- Improving collaboration: Internal communication structures are reviewed to increase transparency and cooperation.
- Embedding sustainable progress: A new Gender Equality & Diversity Plan will provide a framework for defining objectives, measures and indicators.
DIVERSITEC is an FFG funding initiative supporting science- and technology-oriented companies and non-university research organisations in developing targeted equality and inclusion measures. Rather than offering a standard program, it enables each organisation to address its specific needs and translate them into practical change.
Building awareness and organisational structures
Over the past year, AC2T has conducted seven half-day workshops across the company. These sessions created a shared understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion while encouraging reflection on established structures and unconscious biases.
Two additional full-day workshops brought together top management as well as Service Center and Area Leaders. Participants explored future-oriented working environments and modern leadership approaches that promote participation, transparency and equal opportunities.
The project has also supported the development of a dedicated HR function focusing on recruitment, onboarding and employee development. In parallel, AC2T is reviewing its internal communication structures and finalising a new Gender Equality & Diversity Plan.
“We live in a world rich in diversity – some visible, some unseen, and some too often overlooked. True inclusion begins with recognizing and valuing people in all their diversity, creating a place where everyone can be seen, heard, and feel that they belong. Through Diversitec, we are taking steps toward a more equal, inclusive, and transparent workplace, because diversity is our superpower.”
Jessica Pichler, Project Manager & Diversity Officer
Connecting diversity with innovation
On 9 September 2026, Jessica Pichler, Ewald Badisch and Franz Pirker represented AC2T at the DIVERSITEC networking meeting in Vienna. Held at the Libelle in Vienna’s MuseumsQuartier as part of the FFG Forum, the event brought together approximately 140 leaders and change-makers from Austria’s research, technology and innovation sector.
Under the theme “Innovation is not only a question of technology”, the event highlighted diversity as a strategic success factor. Its central message was clear: diversity becomes a driver of innovation when it is systematically managed and understood as a leadership responsibility rather than solely an HR task.
For AC2T, the exchange reinforced that achieving equality is an ongoing process. Meaningful change requires difficult conversations, the courage to question familiar structures and a willingness to recognise biases and perspectives that may previously have remained invisible. Shared understanding is only the starting point; progress depends on translating it into concrete action.
Over the coming months, AC2T will continue embedding these principles into its structures and everyday practices – ensuring that shared awareness leads to measurable improvements in AC2T’s working culture.
