Environmental Systems Research


Within the programme "Environmental Systems Research", we support scientific projects that deal with problems of the (urban) environment. This means getting to the bottom of complex systems consisting of physical, chemical, hydrological, biological, social, technological and/or economic processes and, in particular, the interactions between these components. Projects address socially highly relevant issues in the field of environmental systems research and bring together researchers from different disciplines.

Contact: Benjamin Missbach

Current calls


Urban Environments

The Environmental Systems Research 2024 Call „Urban Environments” opened for submissions on 5th October 2023. This call is directed at researchers in Vienna who seek to conduct a cutting-edge research project (2 - 4 years) to address fundamental questions relevant to human-environment interaction in urban and peri-urban systems.

A total of € 5.5 million has been dedicated to this call. The funding range per project is € 400,000 – € 700,000. Additional funding opportunities are available for collaborative projects between scientists in Vienna and Lower Austria. Details can be found at Joint Projects - WWTF.

This is a two-stage call:

  • Deadline for Short Proposals was on 16th January 2024 (2pm, CET)
    • 58 Proposals were submitted
  • Deadline for Full Proposals (upon invitation): 30th April 2024 (2pm, CET)
    • 18 Teams invited to submit a full proposal
  • The funding decision is expected in October 2024

For more details, please get in touch with the call managers:

Earlier calls


Urban Regions

The second call of the thematic programme “Environmental Systems Research" is completed. The funded projects bring together scientists from different spheres of the urban environment to address innovative research questions in order to advance the understanding of human-environmental interactions. Improving the interconnectedness of different research areas within the call theme was another key element of this call.
For more information on the call please refer to the ESR20 Call Fiche.

Funding volume: 5.069.180 €
Number of applications: 61 short proposals, 23 invited full proposals
Awarding procedure: 2-stage selection process by international expert panel based on review report by peers
Jury meeting: September 16 and 17, 2020
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: September 30, 2020

Contact person: Benjamin Missbach

Astrid Kiendler-Scharr (Chair) | FZ Jülich, DE
Isabelle Anguelovski | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ES
Nancy Grimm | Arizona State University, US
Simon Guy | Lancaster University, UK
Dagmar Haase | HU Berlin, DE
Jouni Jaakkola | University of Oulu, FI
Christopher Kennedy | Victoria University, CA
João Porto de Albuquerque | University of Warwick, UK

Funded projects

Urban Environments

The first WWTF pilot call “Environmental Systems Research: Urban Environments” 2017 is completed. Proposals had to bring together scientists from different spheres of the urban environment to address innovative research questions in order to advance the understanding of human-environmental interactions. Improving the interconnectedness of different research areas within the call theme was another key element of this call.
For more information on the call please refer to the Call Fiche ESR17.

Funding volume: 4.199.000 €
Number of applications: 93 short proposals, 25 invited full proposals
Awarding procdure: 2-stage selection process by international expert panel based on review report by peers
Jury meeting: September 7 and 8, 2017
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: September 27, 2017

Contact person:Benjamin Missbach

Bernhard WEHRLI (Chair) | ETH Zürich, CH
Nancy GRIMM | Arizona State University, US
Simon GUY | Lancaster University, UK
Dagmar HAASE | HU Berlin, DE
Christopher KENNEDY | Victoria University, CA
Astrid KIENDLER-SCHARR | FZ Jülich, DE
Göran PERSHAGEN | Karolinska Institute, SE

Funded projects

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