Austrian 3R Days Congress at Vetmeduni Vienna
From 28 to 30 April 2026, the Austrian 3R Days 2026 took place at Vetmeduni Vienna under the motto “Building Bridges – Bursting Bubbles: Spotlights on 3Rs & NAMs”. BBMRI.at partner VetBiobank presented current activities during the congress and highlighted how biobanking can directly contribute to the implementation of the 3Rs (Replace, Reduce, Refine) in animal research.
Austrian 3R Days Congress Â
The Austrian 3R Days 2026 brought together researchers, research infrastructures, and other stakeholders from the fields of animal research and ethics to discuss current developments related to the 3R principles and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). The goal of the congress was to promote exchange and collaboration and to advance the implementation of best practices in animal research.
The 3Rs Principle
The 3R principle—Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement—forms the ethical and scientific foundation of responsible animal research. The goal is to replace animal experiments wherever possible, reduce the number of animals required, and optimize experimental procedures to minimize stress and improve animal welfare. Biobanking of surplus biological material makes an important contribution, particularly to the principles of Reduction and Replacement, by enabling the reuse of existing samples.
Biobanks promote the 3Rs Principles through quality-assured archiving and reuse of samples
Under the title “From Waste to Resource,” the VetBiobank and the Department of Animal Welfare Sciences at Vetmeduni Vienna presented how surplus biological material from animal experiments can be archived under quality-assured conditions and reused for research and teaching.
Animal research projects regularly generate tissues, organs, and bodily fluids that are often discarded once the primary research objectives have been achieved. At the same time, many research groups—especially those that do not conduct animal experiments themselves—have only limited access to such materials.
Biobanks offer a structured solution to this problem: Through quality-assured archiving and documented transfer, existing resources can be used more efficiently, the number of laboratory animals required can be reduced, and research processes can be accelerated. This approach supports the principle of reduction by utilizing existing materials and simultaneously contributes to the replacement of animal experiments, as certain methodological studies can be conducted without the use of additional animals.
