On this year’s National Day, numerous interested people visited the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research at Minoritenplatz. Under the motto “BILDUNG schafft WISSEN schaf(f)t FORSCHUNG“, they were able to find out about various Austrian research institutions and try their hand at being a researcher themselves at hands-on stations.

The Vienna Health Study LEAD, a holistic long-term study to research Austrian lung health, was also represented this year with an exciting program. Children and adults learned how the LEAD study conducts research and what findings have already been made. Furthermore, the visitors were able to perform a lung function test, the aim of which is to record the functional state of the respiratory tract and the lungs as accurately as possible. The smallest changes in the respiratory tract can thus be detected and help to identify diseases at an early stage and to treat them accordingly. The lung function test is also used to monitor the progress of chronic lung diseases such as asthma or COPD. In addition to performing a lung function test, interested visitors could also find out how it feels to suffer from the disease COPD.

We would like to thank all visitors for their active interest!