During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Austria did not fare significantly better—indeed often worse—regarding pandemic mortality rates and societal costs. However, Austria has not yet conducted any evaluation of the effectiveness of its measures and policies. This would be essential to optimize its future epi- and pandemic preparedness. BETTER is a 3-year interdisciplinary project that combines outcomes research, infectious disease modelling, and evidence synthesis to optimise future epi- and pandemic preparedness in Austria. The proposed project will be based on real-world data from Vienna and Lower Austria to simulate various decision scenarios and their impact in both urban and non-urban settings. Model parameters will be estimated with systematic reviews and meta-analyses. An agent-based population concept will be applied to assess the impact of the various scenarios on (health) system-level, psychosocial, epidemiological and economic outcomes. The findings will be translated into concrete recommendations to aid Austrian decision-makers in improving public health preparedness for future public health crises due to infectious diseases. Stakeholder involvement, including citizen involvement, is a crucial element of this project. BETTER will be the most ambitious attempt yet to provide an Austrian-specific scientific basis to improve local and nationwide epi- or pandemic public health preparedness.