The VISTA Science Experience Center, run by the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) in Klosterneuburg on the outskirts of Vienna, has won the 2026 Austrian State Prize for Adult Education in the “Science Education for Adults” category. It was presented in Vienna by Federal Minister Eva-Maria Holzleitner.
Opened in October 2025, the centre welcomed more than 30,000 visitors in its first year. Its 500-square-metre exhibition, “Science in the Making”, features more than 50 interactive exhibits, original lab objects and artworks on topics such as brain research, quantum physics and artificial intelligence.
The aim is to show science as a process and make it accessible to everyone. Science mediators guide visitors, and the “Meet the Scientist” series lets people talk directly with researchers, alongside workshops, lectures, guided tours and a science tuk-tuk that takes activities on the road.
