Based on the archive's extensive holdings (including literary remains and pre-mortem bequests of Barbara Frischmuth, Reinhard P. Gruber, Klaus Hoffer, Franz Weinzettl, Wilhelm Hengstler, Günter Eichberger, Gerhard Roth and Werner Schwab), the thematic focus is on Austrian literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. The Franz Nabl Institute fulfills the function of a Styrian literary archive. It catalogs its holdings and collections scientifically and archivally, preserves them permanently and provides additional impetus for research and use by organizing exhibitions and events (symposia, workshops, special theme days).
The Franz Nabl Institute is well-funded and has a high public profile. The Province of Styria provides co-financing. The City of Graz finances the affiliated Literaturhaus. This provides the department with a direct link to the current literary scene. As a result, specific forms of contemporary literature and questions of its current reception are the department's preferred research topics.
The Franz Nabl Institute's holdings are also made accessible through third-party funded projects. In fall 2023, the historical-critical edition of Ödön von Horváth's works, also financed by third-party funds, was completed here. This is one of the most renowned edition projects on Austrian modernism. Not only the editorial and literary world, but also theater practitioners and educational institutions benefit from this edition, because it provides, based on a solid philological foundation, new accesses to the well-known author and his thematic world.
For many years, one of the department's most renowned publications was the Dossier series, in which a total of 36 volumes of material on Austrian authors were published before it was discontinued in 2011. As a peer-reviewed open access journal, the series is now being continued under the name Dossieronline in a contemporary form and with a new content focus. With the new series Literature and Archive the department is setting a focus on archival theory. Another innovative publication format is the Graz Lectures on the Art of Writing. Framed by a course at the Department of German Studies at Graz University, authors address the question of what they actually do when they write.
The Franz Nabl Institute also places special emphasis on teaching and the promotion of young academics. For the German studies at the University of Graz, into whose curricula the department's teaching is integrated, this results in content especially in the field of contemporary literature, with a focus on Austrian literature, as well as in all areas of material-centered research. Central to the Institute’s work in all these fields is a specific combination of theory and practice. Research, teaching and the literary public benefit equally and mutually from each other.