The aim is to strengthen the business location Austria through targeted programs, especially in research and development.

It was a result of consolidating the Industrial Research Promotion Fund (FFF), the Austrian Space Agency (ASA), the Bureau for International Research and Technology Cooperation (BIT), and the Technology Impulse Society (TiG) into one Agency.

The Agency moved into the Haus der Forschung in late 2005.

A strategy department supports the FFG and relevant ministries in the development of research policies.

The priorities of the FFG are divided into the following areas[2] The Austrian Research Promotion Agency promotes a yearly event called the "Austrian Champions in European Research", to award Austrian coordinators of European research projects.