Open Calls

The Life Sciences 2026 Call “Targeted Prevention” opened for submissions on 3^rd March 2026. This call is open to innovative and impactful projects that have the potential to promote disease prevention and/or increase the number of healthy life years in a defined population.

A total of € 7.5 million has been dedicated to this call. The funding range per project is € 400,000 – €750,000. Joint Projects between scientists in Vienna and Lower Austria may request a budget of up to €800,000. Projects should run between 2 – 4 years.

This is a two-stage call:

• Deadline for short proposals: May 5^th, 2026, 2pm
• Deadline for full proposals (upon invitation): October 6^th, 2026, 2pm
• The funding decision is expected in late March, 2027

An online information session will be held on March 17^th, 2026, 10am, to guide applicants through the submission process in WWTF’s Funding Portal: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84627777408 (Webinar ID: 846 2777 7408). No registration for this event is necessary.

The specifications for this call can be found via our WWTF Wiki. 

In case of questions, please do not hesitate to contact the call manager Grace Liu.

The Empirical Social Sciences 2026 Call "Resilienz & Crises" opened for submissions on January 30, 2026. This call invites researchers to submit proposals for exploratory, interdisciplinary research projects that advance the conceptualization of resilience in relation to selected crises—primarily with regard to their societal dimensions. The project must be led by a social scientist. Projects should initiate structured collaboration with other scientific disciplines and with relevant practitioner communities, and employ methodological approaches capable of anticipating potential future crises.

A total of € 2 million has been dedicated to this call. The funding range per project is € 50,000 – € 100,000. Additional funding opportunities are available for collaborative projects between scientists in Vienna and Lower Austria. Details can be found at Joint Projects.

• Deadline for  proposals: June 17, 2026, 2pm CET
• The funding decision is expected in October 2026.

All necessary information for the submission can be found via our Public WWTF Wiki Pages.

Events:

As part of this call, we are organizing a series of preparatory events. Details can be found here (at the bottom of this page).

Please do not hesitate to contact the call managers for more details:

Michael Strassnig and Magdalena Wicher

The Information and Communication Technology 2026 Call „Digital Humanism” opened for submissions on January 19, 2026. This call is directed at researchers in Vienna who seek to conduct a cutting-edge interdisciplinary research project (2 - 4 years) between ICT and social sciences / humanities (SSH) that address digital technologies & practices from a human-centered and societal perspective in the field of Digital Humanism. 

A total of € 5 million has been dedicated to this call. The funding range per project is € 350,000 – € 700,000. Additional funding opportunities are available for collaborative projects between scientists in Vienna and Lower Austria. Details can be found at Joint Projects.

This is a two-stage call:

• Deadline for short proposals: April 15, 2026, 2pm CET
• Deadline for full proposals (upon invitation): July 30, 2026, 2pm CET. 
• The funding decision is expected in December 2026.

All necessary information for the submission can be found via our Public WWTF Wiki Pages.

Info Event

Information about the Call and Q&A Session: March 11, 2026, 10-12. 

• Online via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86717176973?pwd=PIzJD5yFKYF10loob75RF7Oo5qjH9i.1
• Meeting ID: 867 1717 6973; Code: 632075

Please do not hesitate to contact the call managers for more details:

Michael Strassnig and Petra Steinkogler

The call “ME/CFS Call 2026 - Fellowships" call opened for submissions on 14^th October 2025. This call is open for early career ME/CFS researchers to conduct a six month research stay at a research organisation in Vienna, Lower Austria or abroad. The ME/CFS Fellowship programme aims to strengthen the ME/CFS community by supporting excellent young scientists and promoting the exchange of expertise. 

This call is co-financed by the WE&ME Foundation and WWTF. A total of € 200.000 has been dedicated to this call. The maximum funding per Fellowships is € 40,000. The government of the province of Lower Austria will cover up to two positions for applicants from Lower Austria. The same criteria apply to the submission and evaluation process as for all other applicants. The costs for the scholarships will be covered directly by the province of Lower Austria. 

• Deadline for proposals: 3rd February 2026 - 2pm
• The funding decision is expected in March 2026

Further information can be found in the Call Specifications and Submission Guidelines.

Early career ME/CFS researchers and potential hosts who interested in this call are encouraged to register and connect on the networking platform: https://www.b2match.com/e/me-cfs-fellowship

Please do not hesitate to contact the call managers for more details:

• Benjamin Missbach | benjamin.missbach@wwtf.at | Tel.: +43 1 402 31 43 19
• Grace Liu | grace.liu@wwtf.at | Tel.: +43 1 402 31 43 12

• Info Session Slides

The 17^th Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators call 2026 “Environmental Systems Research” can fund up to three group leader positions, with up to € 1.8 million per research group over a period of six to eight years. The Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators (VRG) programme is designed to attract outstanding early-career researchers from abroad to Vienna who seek to advance their research career by establishing an independent research group. 

Scope of the call:

• This call is open to all topics and areas in Environmental Systems Research, and researchers from all disciplines (e.g., natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, health sciences, climate research ...) are welcome.
• The future Vienna Research Group is expected to develop a distinctive research profile that tackles fundamental and interdisciplinary questions in environmental research using cutting-edge methodologies.
• Their research should aim to significantly expand current knowledge and have the direct potential to contribute to meaningful societal advancements. Research that extends beyond academia and aims to build strong collaborations with non-academic partners is strongly encouraged.

Who can apply:

• The call is aimed at Vienna-based universities and research institutions that intend to hire an excellent young researcher from abroad to establish and lead an independent research group. Active recruitment procedures are mandatory.
• Applications are prepared in tandem: the proposed VRG leader (candidate) applies together with the proponent, who represents a research institution in Vienna. The proponent is an established scientist based at a university or non-profit non-university research institution in Vienna.
• Candidates are up to eight years after PhD (care duties may extend this period up to four years).
• Candidates must be recruited from institutions outside of Austria (for the detailed criteria, please check the Call Specifications.
• WWTF especially encourages Vienna-based research institutions to propose female group leaders.
• WWTF takes unconventional research careers into consideration.

How to apply:

• Submission of proposals via the WWTF Funding Portal
• Please find all information regarding the call in the WWTF Wiki:
  • All details regarding the call, eligbility criteria, scope, evaluation criteria etc., are specified in the  VRG26 Call Specifications.
  • The Submission Guideline specifies how to submit a proposal via the WWTF Funding Portal.
• Link to the recording of the VRG26 call info-session that took place on 29 January 2026

Important dates:

• Submission deadline: 10 March 2026, 14:00 CET
• Hearing Dates: 24 and 25 September 2026 (candidates participate online). Participation in the hearing is mandatory to be considered for funding.
• Please check this page regularly for updates.

Please contact the call managers for more information or further inquiries:

Petra Steinkogler

Grace Liu

Job postings by Viennese universities & research institutions:

• University of Vienna:
  https://forschung.univie.ac.at/services/aktuelle-ausschreibungen/vienna-research-group/
  https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/382106
• BOKU University:
  https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/388700
  https://www.nature.com/naturecareers/job/12849109/assistant-professor-tenure-track-to-establish-a-vienna-research-group-envrionmental-systems-/
  https://jobs.derstandard.at/suche/oesterreich/boku#5224eace-319e-32a4-adc2-b2c2827a6efb
  https://boku.ac.at/pers/interne-jobboerse#c709915
• TU Wien:
  https://www.tuwien.at/forschung/vienna-research-group-leader
• WU Vienna:
  https://www.wu.ac.at/en/pepp/political-economy-of-public-policy/news/detail/detail/call-for-applications-1
  
• VetMed University:
  https://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/forschung/aktuelles-aus-der-forschung/call-for-application

• VRG26 Info Sheet
• Info Session Presentation

The Life Sciences 2024 Call “Precision Medicine” opened for submissions on 4^th March 2025, the submission deadline was 6^th May 2025. This call was open to researchers in Vienna who seek to conduct a cutting-edge research project (2 – 4 years) that draws upon precision medicine approaches to improve the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of a human disease.

A total of € 7.5 million has been dedicated to this call. The funding range per project is € 500,000 – € 1 million. Additional funding opportunities are available for collaborative projects between scientists in Vienna and Lower Austria. Details can be found at Joint Projects - WWTF.  Joint Projects may request a budget up to € 1.1 million.

This is a two-stage call:

• Deadline for short proposals: 6^th May 2025, 2pm
• Deadline for full proposals (upon invitation): 7^th October 2025, 2pm
• Applicant response phase (for full proposal applicants only): 9^th – 20^th February 2026 (exact dates provided at the end of January) 
• The funding decision is expected in March – April 2026

All information regarding the conditions and processes of the call can be found in the WWTF Wiki. Please do not hesitate to contact the call manager Grace Liu for more details.

• LS25 Call Flyer
• LS25 Information Session