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.

• LS26 Call Flyer
• LS26 Information Session

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

• Link to the recording of the info session on 11 March 2026
• Please find the powerpoint slides of the info session below

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

Michael Strassnig and Petra Steinkogler

• Info Session Präsentation

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. 

This call is currently in the evaluation phase.

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.

Call details:

• 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.
• 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

Benjamin Missbach

• VRG26 Info Sheet
• Info Session Presentation