Whether as “solo” PI, in cooperation with other research groups and institutions, in research and/or in innovation, there are a number of national and international programmes that can financially support your research.

The list below contains some of the main programmes and hence is not extensive. Please contact us, visit the section other schemes – useful links to find other options, have questions or require further details.

Research Grants

National schemes

Program

Scope – Duration

Eligibility criteria

Calls & Key Dates

FWF Principal Investigator Projects (formerly known as Stand-Alone Projects)

all scientific disciplines
basic research
1-4Y

  • Current and incoming ISTA faculty

continuous submission

all scientific disciplines
3+2Y

  • PIs with PhD deg within 2-8 Y*
  • with track in the acquisition of third-party funds
  • favored: with ⩾1Y research stay abroad

1/year
Sept

* Extensions (e.g., due to parental leave) may apply. Contact us to discuss your case.

all scientific disciplines
1Y

  • PIs working or planning to work in AT

1/year
Jan (program currently on hold)

International schemes

Program

Scope – Duration

Eligibility criteria

Calls & Key Dates

all scientific disciplines
5Y funds

  • PIs with PhD deg within 2-7 Y*
  • ⩾ 50% time commitment

1/year
Oct

all scientific disciplines
5Y funds

  • PIs with PhD deg within 7-12 Y*
  • ⩾ 40% time commitment

1/year
Feb

* Extensions (e.g., due to parental leave) may apply. Contact us to to discuss your case.

all scientific disciplines
5Y funds

  • PIs with PhD deg >12Y
  • ⩾ 30% time commitment

1/year
May

  • junior PIs (1-4Y, +1Y/child for females; for males, +3M/child or longer if documented)
  • ⩾1 publ as senior author

1/year
April

molecular life sciences
3Y

  • PIs with PhD deg < 6Y

1/year
Sept

Collaborative Grants

Program

Scope – Duration

Eligibility Criteria

Calls & Key dates

2023: Digitalisation, intelligent production and materials
2-3Y

  • 1 PI in Lower Austria + 1 (or more) other independent research entities

1/year June

all scientific disciplines
high-risk, multidisciplinary projects
5Y

  • Teams of 3-7 PIs
  • 2/3 non-male members

1 / 2 years
Feb

all scientific disciplines bi-, trilateral (Weave) projects
2 to 4Y

  • participants based on the partner organisation’s country(ies)*
  • 2 to 3 participants

joint submission, set by the respective funding agencies. Consult us, or the Weave guidelines where applicable.

* Belgium/Flanders(W), China, Czech Republic(W), France, Germany(W), Hungary, Israel, Italy/South Tyrol, Japan, Luxembourg(W), Poland(W), Russia, Slovenia(W), Switzerland(W), Taiwan. W: through Weave

all scientific disciplines
4Y+4Y (continuation)

  • 5-15 participants, project part leaders
  • min 30% female researchers
  • min 50% institutions at the same location*
  • PI in <3 FWF projects (StA, International Programmes), and/or <2 SFBs

1/year
two-stage process
Sept (draft proposal)

* same location = same city/municipality or situated within an area of max 80 km radius

all scientific disciplines
multi-,
interdisciplinary projects
⩽ 5Y

  • 3-5 participants, i.e. researchers
  • 1/3 of the underrepresented gender
  • PI in <3 FWF projects (StA, International Programmes)

1/year
two-stage process
Sept (draft proposal)

WWTF Calls : Joint projects Vienna – Lower Austria

yearly focus,
LS* or CS/DS*-related
2-4Y

  • ⩽ 3 PIs (core team)
  • coordinator at a Vienese institution
  • ⩾ 1 core team member based at a LA institution

1/year
two-stage process:
either
Jan (1st) – May (2nd)
or
Apr (1st) – Aug (2nd)

* LS: Life Science; CS: Computer Science; DS: Data Science

all scientific disciplines
6Y

  • 2-4 PIs, max 1 from a non EU-country

1/year
Nov

life sciences: mechanisms in living organisms and biological functions
cross-disciplinary, international projects
3Y

  • teams of 2-4 members
  • Early Career Grants: with PhD deg ⩽ 10Y and ⩽ 5Y at an independent position
  • from different institutions
  • 3/4-member teams: with max 2 members from the same country
  • no previous collaborations
  • principal applicant based in a HFSPO member country
  • 1 application/applicant

1/year
two-stage process
Mar (LoI)
Sept (Full proposal upon invitation)

collaboration between science and industry
TRL* 2-4

  • consortia of 2-4 AT partners
  • ⩾1 academic, ⩾1 non-academic

2-3/year

*TRL: Technological Readiness Level, from 1-9

Innovation Grants

Program

Scope – Duration

Eligibility Criteria

Calls & Key Dates

all scientific disciplines
12M + 6M

  • ERC Grant holders
  • with ongoing projects, or
  • with projects that ended <12M before 1 Jan of the current year

3/year
Jan-Apr-Sept

O: all scientific disciplines
C: challenge-driven
TRL* 1-4
1-5Y

  • O: consortia* of ⩾ 3 beneficiaries in ⩾ 3 different MS/ACs**; ⩾1 in a MS
  • C: single entities*** or consortia of ⩾ 2 beneficiaries in ⩾ 2 different MS/ACs

O: 1/year, Mar
C: 1/year, Oct


* research organisations, universities, SMEs, industry
** MS: Member State, AC: Associated Country
*** exceptions may apply, depending on the challenge

O: all scientific disciplines
C: challenge-driven
TRL 4-6
3Y

  • single entitities or small consortia* (⩽ 5 partners)
  • based on results of eligible projects**

3/year
Apr-Jun-Oct

* research organisations, SMEs, spin-offs,start-ups, universities
** EIC Pathfinder projects (including projects funded under EIC pilot Pathfinder, Horizon 2020 FET-Open, FET-Proactive, FET Flagships and FET ERAnet calls) , ERC Proof of Concept

in any of the selected technological areas
1Y

  • ⩾ 1 PI (Full, Associate or Assistant Professors)
  • if > 1PI. Primary PI and co-PIs from the same institution
  • submission of multiple proposals is possible

1/year
Mid Sept

IT, Devices and Materials, Biomedical and Life Science. See related categories here

  • ⩾ 1 PI (Full, Associate or Assistant Professors)
  • if > 1PI. Primary PI and co-PIs from the same institution
  • submission of multiple proposals is possible

1/year
Mid Sept

Other schemes – Useful links

Most of the major funders provide an extensive portfolio of funding programmes and special calls worth browsing when looking for a suitable funding option. Check the sites below!

The European Commission is the major European funder, offering a vast collection of funding schemes in support of the European scientific and innovative capacity, including the human potential. The funding and tenders portal is a comprehensive multipurpose tool that provides a search engine for programmes and calls with extensive documentation, and an online platform for proposal submission and grant administration, among other services.

Note [1]: ISTA has released their first Gender Equality Plan (GEP) for the period 2022-2026, a requisite for eligible institutions at the grant agreement stage for 2022 calls. Please select YES to the corresponding question when filling up Part A of your proposals.
Note [2]: Participant Identification Code (PIC) of ISTA: 996479740

For research and innovation projects, spanning the academic and non-academic sectors – the Austrian Research Promotion Agency

For basic research projects, strengthening collaboration between researchers in Vienna and surroundings, especially Lower Austria – the Vienna Science and Technology Fund.

For individual and collaborative projects on frontier research in mathematics and basic sciences, including autism research through the SFARI program – the Simons Foundation.

For individual and collaborative projects in Science and Education, levering share of knowledge, and generated tools – the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative offers grants through the funding agencies: the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Foundation, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Donor-Advised Fund (DAF).

For collaborative projects between Austria and associated countries through education, research and training across institutions – the Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research OeAD, also offers a data base of scholarship and grant calls at the national, European and international level.

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