Open Calls

The Life Sciences 2026 Call “Targeted Prevention” is currently open for applicants invited to submit a proposal. This call aims to fund 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

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 WWTF call in the area of Social Sciences with the topic of “Resilience & Crises” closed on June 17, 2026. WWTF received 110 proposals.

The call jury will meet end of October 2026. WWTF board will provide the formal decision in December 2026.

A total of € 2,0 million is dedicated to this call. The funding range per project is € 50,000 to € 100,000. 

More information about the call: https://wiki.wwtf.at/books/ess26-resilience-and-crises

Contact for information about the call: Michael Strassnig

The Information and Communication Technology 2026 Call „Digital Humanism” opened for submissions in January 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 (Joint Projects - WWTF). 

Timeline:

• The deadline for short proposals was on 15^th April 2026. 73 short proposal were submitted. 
• The decision on the short proposals can be expected in early June. Applicants will be informed via email regarding the outcome of the jury meeting. 
• Deadline for full proposals (upon invitation): 30^th July 2026, 2pm CET. 
• The funding decision will be communicated in late December 2026. 

Further information can be found in the Call Specifications and Submission Guideline documents below. Please do not hesitate to contact the call manager Petra Steinkogler or Michael Strassnig for more details.

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. 17 applications were submitted.
• 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