The Institute of Paper, Pulp and Fibre Technology is the major institute in Austria to perform research and development and to educate students in the field of pulp, paper and biobased materials. The philosophy of the Institute is to combine practical needs of industrial partners with high level research in order to provide the best possible environment for students to acquire and to apply the obtained knowledge.

The institute is involved in many large scale research activities to advance the use of biobased products, to optimize value chains with a focus on the pulp and paper industry and to develop new wood-based materials with added value while better understanding basic interaction mechanisms in these materials. These activities are performed in the frame of COMET projects, CD laboratories, EU programs, FFG and FWF projects and cover both fundamental and applied research.

In teaching the institute's activities mainly focus on the area of specialisation "Biobased Materials and Fibre Technology" in the master's programme "Chemical and Process Engineering" and on the master's programme "Biorefinery Engineering", which was developed recently together with university and industrial partners to meet the need of the bioabased industries. The university programme "Pulp and Paper Technology" (60 ECTS, 2 semesters) is also offered and has the target to qualify professionals from other fields of study for advanced activities in the broad field of the paper and pulp industry as well as in the related supplier industry.

The institute is certified according to the ISO 17025 standard and also provides research services for the pulp, paper and biobased materials industry.