Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators
Environmental Systems Research
Funding volume:
Number of applications:
Awarding procdure:
Jury meeting:
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors:
Contact person:
Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators
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. Up to € 1.8 million for 6-8 years can be awarded per group. The VRG candidate applies together with a Vienna research institution and the topic of the programme changes every year.
Contact: Petra Steinkogler or Michael Strassnig
Earlier calls
Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators
Transforming Science with AI/ML
The 16th Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators call 2025 "Transforming Science with AI/ML" was issued as part of the WWTF’s Information and Communication Technologies program. The call aimed to attract excellent, early career researchers who develop cutting-edge AI/ML concepts, approaches, and methods to advance a specific research field or discipline. Three VRG leaders and their future groups could be funded with max. € 1.8 m. each.
The funded VRG leaders will be communicated in the course of the next months.
Funding volume: 3.315.126 €
Number of applications: 34
Awarding procedure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearings
Jury meeting: 2 and 3 September 2025
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: 29 September 2025
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
Niko Beerenwinkel (Chair) ETH Zürich, CH
Andreas Hotho, Universität Würzburg, DE
Dunia Mladenić, Jozef Stefan Institute, SL
Frank van Harmelen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, NL
Tatiana Tommasi, Politecnico di Turino, IT
Marius Kloft, TU Kaiserslautern, DE
Sotirios Tsaftaris, The University of Edinburgh, UK
Hervé Panetto, University of Lorraine, FR
Funded projects
- VRG25-008 Camila Gonzalez (Medical University of Vienna)
Bridging Clinical Guidelines with Real-time Patient Data: An AI Knowledge Graph Framework for Anesthesia and Intensive Care
Duration: 72 months, Funding volume: € 1,515,516 - VRG25-019 Tatjana Chavdarova (TU Wien)
Multi-Player Artificial Intelligence
Duration: 84 months, Funding volume: € 1,799,610
Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators
Information and Communication Technology
The 15th Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators call 2024 was issued for up to three group leader positions as part of the WWTF’s Information and Communication Technologies programme. The proposed field of research had to contribute to fundamental scientific advancement in the area of AI/ML. A special emphasis of this call was to link AI theory with data and knowledge of other research fields. Three VRG leaders and their groups could be funded with max. € 1.6 m. each.
Funding volume: € 4,714,315
Number of applications: 19
Awarding procedure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearings
Jury meeting and hearings: 30.9. and 1.10. 2024
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: 9.10.2024
Contact person:
Petra Steinkogler, petra.steinkogler@wwtf.at, Tel.: + 43 1 402 31 43 14
Niko Beerenwinkel (Chair) ETH Zürich, CH
Zeynep Akata, Helmholtz Institut München, DE
Fosca Giannotti, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, IT
Andreas Hotho, Universität Würzburg, DE
Carsten Lutz, Universität Leipzig, DE
Marie-Francine Moens, KU Leuven, BE
Jean Ponce, Ecole normale supérieure-PSL and New York University, FR
Funded projects
- VRG24-002 Adam Gosztolai (Medical University of Vienna)
A brain-inspired generative foundation model of primate locomotion
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,498 - VRG24-013 Svitlana Vakulenko (WU - Vienna University of Economics and Business)
Knowledge Representation Learning for Large Language Models
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,597,758 - VRG24-018 Guillaume Bellec (TU Wien)
AI and neuroscience
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,598,656
Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators
Information and Communication Technology
The 14th Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators call 2023 was issued for up to three group leader positions as part of the WWTF’s Information and Communication Technologies programme. Four VRG leaders and their groups could be funded.
Funding volume: € 6,267,818
Number of applications: 20
Awarding procedure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearings
Jury meeting: 21st and 22nd September 2023
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: 3.10.2023
Contact person: Michael Strassnig
Volker Markl (Chair), TU Berlin, DE
Alexander Maedche, KIT, DE
Nada Lavrac, University of Nova Gorica, SI
Jana Tumova, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SWE
Elena Ferrari, University of Insubria, ITA
Anne-Marie Kermarrec, EPFL, CH
Olaf Schenk, Universita della Svizzera italiana, CH
Funded projects
- VRG23-002 Andrea Ortiz Jimenez (TU Wien)
ASUCAR: Achieving SUstainable, sCAlable, and Resilient wireless networks
Duration: 72 months, Funding volume: € 1,594,493 - VRG23-007 Sebastian Schuster (University of Vienna)
Understanding Language in Context
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,016 - VRG23-011 Daniel Arp (TU Wien)
Building Robust and Explainable AI-based Defenses for Computer Security (BREADS)
Duration: 72 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,235 - VRG23-013 Stefan Neumann (TU Wien)
Towards Trustworthy Recommendation Systems for Online Social Networks
Duration: 84 months, Funding volume: € 1,475,074
Environmental Systems Research 2022
The 13th Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators call 2022 was issued for up to two group leader position as part of the WWTF’s Environmental Systems Research programme.
Funding volume: 3.199.110 €
Number of applications: 8
Awarding proecdure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearings
Jury meeting: 30th of November – 1st of December 2022
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: 7.12.2022
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
Members of the call jury:
Peter Søgaard Jørgensen / Stockholm Resilience Center, S (Chair)
Aveliina Helm / Tartu University, EST
Harald Horn / Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, D
Pim Martens / Maastricht University, NL
Claudia Pahl-Wostl / University of Osnabrück, D
Michael Zwicky Hauschild / Technical University of Denmark, DK
Andreas WAHNER / Forschungszentrum Jülich, D
Funded projects
- VRG22-003 Dominik Stolzenburg (TU Wien)
Atmosphere Cityscape Aerosol Interactions
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,920 - VRG22-007 Mark Anthony (University of Vienna)
Biotrophic fungal diversity & functional responses to climate change
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,190
Cognitive Sciences 2021
Cognitive Sciences
The twelfth call in the program "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" has taken place in the field "Cognitive Sciences" in 2021. Two positions with a maximum of € 1.6 million in funding were advertised.
Funding volume: 3,2 Mio €
Number of applications: 21 Proposals
Awarding procedure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearing
Jury meeting: 2/3rd of December 2021
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: 16th of December 2021
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
Members of the call jury:
|
Jan THEEUWES (Jury Chair) |
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, NL |
|
Kim BARD |
University of Portsmouth, UK |
|
Ophelia DEROY |
LMU, D |
|
Gareth GASKELL |
York University, UK |
|
Valeria GAZZOLA* |
University of Amsterdam, NL |
|
Judith K. MAKARA |
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, HU |
|
Elodie Floriane MANDEL-BRIEFER |
University of Copenhagen, DK |
Funded projects
- VRG21-011 Barbara Christina Klump (University of Vienna)
The interplay between cognition and ecology in extractive foraging behaviours
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,840 - VRG21-015 Sarah Melzer (Medical University of Vienna)
Neuronal and neuropeptidergic mechanisms for flexible control of learning and memory
Duration: 72 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,980
Computational Biosciences 2020
Computational Biosciences
The eleventh call in the "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" programme took place in the field of "Life Sciences - Computational Biosciences" in 2020. It was issued up for two positions à 1,6 mio € funding volume.
Funding volume: 3,2 m €
Number of applications: 12 proposals
Awarding procdure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearing
Jury meeting: December 3-4, 2020
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: December 16, 2020
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
Members of the call jury:
Peter Arndt (jury chair) | MPI für molekulare Genetik
Franca Fraternali | King’s College London
Martin Lenz | Univ. Paris-Saclay
Carsten Marr | Helmholtz Zentrum München
Natasa Przulj | Barcelona Supercomputing C. / UCL
Blanca Rodriguez | University of Oxford
Tanja Stadler | ETH Zürich
Funded projects
- VRG20-001 Martin Kuhlwilm (University of Vienna)
Navigating landscapes of admixture
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,900 - VRG20-002 Sebastian Fuerthauer (TU Wien)
The physics of active biological materials across scales.
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,220
Interdisciplinary Datascience 2019
Interdisciplinary Data Science
The tenth call in the "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" programme took place in the field of "Information and Communication Technology - Interdisciplinary Data Science" in 2019. It was issued up for two positions à 1,6 mio € funding volume. The awardees will be annouced soon.
Funding volume: € 3,200,000
Number of applications: 11 proposals
Awarding procdure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearing
Jury meeting: December 2-3, 2019
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: December 17, 2019
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
Members of the call jury:
- Barbara Caputo (jury chair) | Politecnico of Torino, Italy
- Jianqing Fan| Princeton, US
- Daniel Gatica-Perez | EPFL, CH
- Volker Markl | TU Berlin, Germany
- Natasa Przulj| Barcelona Supercomputing Center, ES
- Anthony Steed | UCL, UK
Funded projects
- VRG19-008 Benjamin Roth (University of Vienna)
Knowledge-infused Deep Learning for Natural Language Processing
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,567,440 - VRG19-009 Nils Kriege (University of Vienna)
Algorithmic Data Science for Computational Drug Discovery
Duration: 103 months, Funding volume: € 1,466,230
Information and Communication Technology 2018
The ninth call in the "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" programme took place in the field of "Information and Communication Technology" in 2018. It was issued up for three positions à 1,6 mio € funding volume. The awardees will be annoucing soon.
Funding volume: € 4.800.000
Number of applications: 17 proposals
Awarding procdure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearing
Jury meeting: November 28-29, 2018
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: December 11, 2018
Contact person: Michael Strassnig
Members of the call jury:
- Björn Ottersten (jury chair) | University of Luxemburg, LU
- Luc de Raedt | KU Leuven, BE
- Lars Ramkilde Knudsen | Technical University of Denmark, DK
- Marta Kwiatkowska | University of Oxford, UK
- Angelika Steger | ETH Zurich, CH
- Rüdiger Westermann | TU Munich, DE
Funded projects
- VRG18-002 Georg Fuchsbauer (TU Wien)
COnFIDE - Cryptographic Foundations of Privacy in Distributed Ledgers
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,280 - VRG18-012 Jiehua Chen (TU Wien)
Structural and Algorithmic Aspects of Preference-based Problems in Social Choice
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,620 - VRG18-013 Emanuel Sallinger (TU Wien)
Scalable Reasoning in Knowledge Graphs
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,600,000
Mathematik and... 2017
"Mathematics and..."
The eighth call in the "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" programme took place in the field of "Mathematics and ..." in 2017. It was issued up for two positions à 1,6 mio € funding volume.
Funding volume: 3.200.000 €
Number of applications: 16 proposals
Awarding procdure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international
Jury meeting: November 30 - December 1, 2017
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: December 12, 2017
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
Members of the call jury:
Barbara Wohlmuth (jury chair) | TU München, DE
Rama Cont | Imperial College London, UK
Susanne Ditlevsen | University of Copenhagen, DK
Stéphane Jaffard | UPEC – Université Paris-Est, FR
J. Tinsley Oden | ICES – The University of Texas at Austin, US
Angela Stevens | Universität Münster, DE
Funded projects
- VRG17-014 Sara Merino Aceituno (University of Vienna)
Kinetic Theory Applied to the Study of Fertility, Cancer and Development
Duration: 120 months, Funding volume: € 1,575,460
Complexity Science 2016
Complexity Science
The seventh call in the "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" programme took place in the field of "Complexity Science" in 2016. It was issued for one position à 1,6 mio € funding volume.
Funding volume: 1,600,000 €
Number of applications: 5 full proposals
Awarding procdure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearing
Jury meeting: December 5, 2016
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: December 13, 2016
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
For more information see the Call Fiche 2016
Members of the call jury:
- Sorin Solomon (jury chair) | Hebrew University of Jerusalem, IL
- Alfred Hubler | University of Illinois, US
- Gero Miesenböck | University of Oxford, UK
- Michal Linial | Hebrew University of Jerusalem, IL
- Vittorio Loreto | Sapienza University Rome, IT
- Frank Schweitzer | ETH Zürich, CH
- Karoline Wiesner | University of Bristol, UK
Funded projects
- VRG16-005 David Garcia (Medical University of Vienna)
Emotional Well-Being in the Digital Society
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,600,000
Computational Biosciences 2015
"Computational Biosciences"
The sixth call in the "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" programme took place in the field of "Computational Biosciences" in 2015. It was issued for up to 2 positions à 1,6 mio € funding volume.
The successful appointment of a woman will be rewarded with a financial benefit for the Vienna host institution in order to support their gender mainstreaming activities ("ergänzendes Instrument").
Funding volume: 3,197,900 €
Number of applications: 9 full proposals
Awarding procdure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearing
Jury meeting: December 9-10, 2015
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: December 14, 2015
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
For more information see the Call Fiche 2015
Members of the call jury:
Anna Tramontano (jury chair)| Sapienza University of Rome, IT
Peter F. Arndt | Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, DE
Sebastian Bonhoeffer | ETH Zurich, CH
Juni Palmgren | Karolinska Institutet, SE
Fabian Theis | Helmholtz Zentrum München
Janet Thornton | EMBL-EBI, UK
Funded projects
- VRG15-005 Jörg Menche (CeMM - Research Center for Molecular Medicine GmbH of the Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Network Medicine - An interactome-based approach to rare diseases
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,598,300 - VRG15-007 Maria Filipa Baltazar de Lima de Sousa (University of Vienna)
Pan-metabolic profiling of Archaea: The ecology of genomics
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,600
Life Sciences 2014
The fifth call in the "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" programme took place in the field of "Life Sciences" in 2014. It was issued for up to 3 positions à 1,6 mio € funding volume.
The successful appointment of a woman will be rewarded with a financial benefit for the Vienna host institution in order to support their gender mainstreaming activities ("ergänzendes Instrument").
Funding volume: 4,799,000 €
Number of applications: 25 full proposals
Awarding procdure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearing
Jury meeting: November 24-25, 2014
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: November 28, 2014
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
For more information see the Call Fiche 2014
Members of the call jury:
- Andrew George (jury chair) | Brunel University London, UK
- Cosimo De Bari | University of Aberdeen, UK
- Gerhard Haszprunar | LMU Munich, DE
- Michal Linial | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Cathie Martin | John Innes Centre, UK
- Sylvie Mazan | CNRS UPMC, FR
Funded projects
- VRG14-001 Christopher Campbell (University of Vienna)
Chromosome Biology
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,599,000 - VRG14-006 Martin Leeb (University of Vienna)
Stem Cell Biology
Duration: 114 months, Funding volume: € 1,600,000 - VRG14-021 Jillian Petersen (University of Vienna)
Understanding molecular host-microbe interactions in nature: Lucinid clams and their chemosynthetic symbionts
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,600,000
Cognitive Sciences 2013
The fourth call in the "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" programme took place in the field of "Cognitive Sciences" in 2013. It was issued for up to 2 positions à 1,5 mio € funding volume.
Funding volume: 1,499,466 €
Number of applications: 7 full proposals
Awarding procdure: One stage procedure with full proposals, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearing
Jury meeting: November 25, 2013
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: December 17, 2013
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
For more information see the Call Fiche 2013
Members of the call jury:
- Gero Miesenböck (jury chair) | University of Oxford, UK
- Sarah-Jayne Blakemore | UCL, UK
- Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky | University of Marburg, DE
- Cynthia Macdonald | University of Canterbury, UK
- Jochen Steil | Bielefeld University, DE
- David W. Stephens | University of Minnesota, US
- Jan Theeuwes | Vrije Universiteit, NL
Funded projects
- VRG13-007 Christoph Eisenegger (University of Vienna)
The neurobiology of beliefs in dynamic social interaction
Duration: 73 months, Funding volume: € 1,499,466
Mathematics and... 2012
The third call in the "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" programme took place in the field of "Mathematics and..." in 2012. It was issued for up to 2 positions à 1,5 mio € funding volume.
Funding volume: 2,995,450 €
Number of applications: 28 short proposals, 11 invited for submitting a full proposal
Awarding procdure: Two stage procedure with short and full proposal, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearing
Jury meeting: December 10-11, 2012
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: December 18, 2012
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
For more information see the Call Fiche 2012
Members of the call jury:
- Barbara Wohlmuth (jury chair) | Technical University Munich, DE
- Sebastian Bonhoeffer | ETH Zurich, CH
- Emilia Del Bono | University of Essex, UK
- Anna C. Gilbert | The University of Michigan, US
- Maciej Lewenstein | ICFO Barcelona, ES
- Philip K. Maini | Oxford University, UK
- Ingrid Van Keilegom | Université catholique de Louvain, BE
Funded projects
- VRG12-004 Stefan Hetzl (TU Wien)
Structure and Expressivity: The Mathematical Foundations of Inductive Reasoning
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,495,650 - VRG12-009 Martin Ehler (University of Vienna)
Computational harmonic analysis of high-dimensional biomedical data
Duration: 120 months, Funding volume: € 1,499,800
Information & Communication Technology 2011
The second call in the "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" programme took place in the field of "Information- and Communication Technology" in 2011. It was issued for up to 2 positions à 1,5 mio € funding volume.
Funding volume: € 3,000,000 €
Number of applications: 22 short proposals, 10 invited for submitting a full proposal
Awarding procdure: Two stage procedure with short and full proposal, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearing
Jury meeting: December 8-9, 2011
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: December 14, 2011
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
For more information see the Call Fiche 2011
Members of the call jury:
Alexander L. Wolf (jury chair) | Imperial College London, UK
Hans Ulrich Buhl | University of Augsburg, DE
Anja Feldmann | Technische Universität Berlin, DE
David Harel | Weizmann Institute of Science, IL
Carol O’Sullivan | Trinity College Dublin, IRL
Björn Ottersten | Royal Institute of Technology, SE
Tom Rodden | University of Nottingham, UK
Funded projects
- VRG11-005 Georg Weissenbacher (TU Wien)
Heisenbugs: From Detection to Explanation
Duration: 112 months, Funding volume: € 1,500,000 - VRG11-010 Ivan Viola (TU Wien)
Visual Computing: Illustrative Visualization
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,500,000
Life Sciences 2010
The first call in the "Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators" programme took place in the field of "Life Sciences" in 2010. It was issued for up to 3 positions à 1,5 mio € funding volume.
Funding volume: 2,999,600 €
Number of applications: 25 short proposals, 13 invited for submitting a full proposal
Awarding procdure: Two stage procedure with short and full proposal, selection by international expert panel based on review report by peers and hearing
Jury meeting: September 8-10, 2010
Formal decision by WWTF Board of Directors: September 13, 2010
Contact person: Petra Steinkogler
For more information see the Call Fiche 2010
Members of the call jury:
- Alan Coman (jury chair) | A*STAR Institute of Medical Biology, SG
- Edda Fiebiger | Harvard Medical School, US
- Henrike Hartmann | Volkswagenstiftung, DE
- Kay Huebner | Ohio State University, US
- Dirk Inzè | University of Ghent, BE
- Michal Linial | Hebrew University, IL
- Chris Mason | University College London, UK
Funded projects
- VRG10-001 Claudine Kraft (University of Vienna)
Molecular regulation of autophagy
Duration: 87 months, Funding volume: € 1,500,000 - VRG10-006 Jürgen Kleine-Vehn (BOKU University)
Plant Molecular and Cell Biology
Duration: 96 months, Funding volume: € 1,499,700 - VRG10-011 Alipasha Vaziri (University of Vienna, Max F. Perutz Laboratories / Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pathologie GmbH)
Multi-scale Understanding of Biological Function
Duration: 66 months, Funding volume: € 1,499,900