Jan Felix Maly Awarded 2024 netidee SCIENCE Grant

Jan Felix Maly from the Vienna University of Economics and Business has been awarded this year’s netidee SCIENCE grant, Austria's most highly endowed privately financed research grant for excellent online research. Administered by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the award of close to €400,000 from the Internet Foundation will enable the mathematician and computer scientist to develop mechanisms for making fair group decisions online.

November 29, 2024

Portrait Netidee SCIENCE principal investigator Jan Felix Maly — The Internet Foundation awards Jan Felix Maly (WU Vienna) the 2024 netidee SCIENCE grant: With his project, Maly wants to develop tools for making fair, representative decisions online. © FWF/privat

So many of our social interactions take place online in today’s world. As a result, groups are increasingly making decisions using various online tools. This includes decisions about rules that an online community sets for itself, such as which opinions or content should be supported, as well as decisions in the analog world that are made with the help of online tools – from planning meetings to larger digital participation processes. Most online group decisions are based on simple majorities.

“Simple, non-representative decision-making procedures keep minority opinions from being heard in many online communities, which reinforces filtering bubble effects and means that people who are part of a minority often do not participate in online discussions because their voices aren’t heard. With my research, I aim to help reduce polarization and give minorities more representation in political discourse," says the award winner.

“As internet-based applications become increasingly prevalent in our social lives, online decision-making processes are also becoming more and more important. We congratulate Jan Felix Maly on his excellently reviewed research project, which aims to contribute to the development of innovative tools for making fair and representative group decisions," says Andreas Schildberger, Chair of the Internet Foundation.

"Supporting this project is an important step towards creating fair and equitable online decision-making processes. The work Jan Felix Maly's team is doing will help ensure that digital group decisions really reflect the opinions and needs of all participants in a balanced way. Such innovative approaches make an important contribution to a more democratic and inclusive society," congratulates Rupert Sausgruber, Rector of WU Vienna, on the awarding of the 2024 netidee SCIENCE grant.

“Private partners such as the Internet Foundation are essential for the progress of science and research in Austria. The netidee SCIENCE grant gives outstanding researchers the opportunity to determine what’s needed for a free and secure internet," says FWF Vice-President Ursula Jakubek. "I wish the award winner Jan Felix Maly every success with his promising project and would like to thank the Internet Foundation for its long-term support," concluded Jakubek.

Philanthropy for science and research

The increasing charitable commitment of private individuals and organizations makes it possible to support ever more excellent researchers. Currently, private donations allow the FWF to finance research projects worth €1.5 million each year. In addition, the FWF was the first public research funding agency in Europe to establish a nonprofit foundation to provide Austria's researchers with more opportunities in basic research through private grants.