Science fund - Individual project support

What you get

You will receive funding from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) to carry out your own basic research project for up to 48 months. There is no fixed amount. Instead, you apply for the exact costs required for your project, meaning that the total amount is calculated individually for each project. You can use this funding to cover salaries for yourself and your team (PhD students and student assistants, as well as your own senior postdoc post), project equipment and materials, and travel expenses. In addition, there is a general surcharge of 5%. Basic research refers to work whose value lies in advancing science itself. The programme is open to all disciplines and enables you to pursue your own research question over a period of several years.

Who can apply

• Field of study: Any topic. There are no restrictions.
• Qualification: You can lead the project yourself, drawing on your research experience. No specific qualification is required.
• Publications: You have at least 2 peer-reviewed, internationally recognised publications from the last 5 years. In at least one of these, you must be listed as the first, last or corresponding author in a journal that is listed in Web of Science, Scopus or DOAJ.
• Where you work: You are leading the project at an Austrian research institution, working there for at least 5 hours per week from the start of the project, and spending more than half of your research time in Austria.
• Nationality: Applicants of all nationalities are welcome to apply. You do not need to be an Austrian citizen.
• Parallel projects: You may supervise no more than 3 ongoing or approved FWF projects at any one time.

If you have had any breaks in your career (due to pregnancy, childcare, caring responsibilities, military or civilian service, displacement and asylum, disability or a chronic illness), these will be taken into account when assessing your career history.

How to apply

You submit your application online via the FWF’s ‘elane’ portal in English. Both you and your research institution must approve the application. There are no fixed deadlines, so you can submit your application at any time. Applications undergo an international peer-review process, during which external experts evaluate the research project. The FWF Executive Board makes its decision at one of five funding rounds per year, and the review process takes around six months.

How realistic are your chances?

This is a high-level, competitive research grant, not a general scholarship for students. International reviewers assess the application on the basis of the quality and originality of your research project. If you already have the necessary publications and a convincing, well-justified project, your chances are good, and you are not under any time pressure, as you can submit the application as soon as it is ready. A weak or unfocused application will not pass peer review, no matter how well you meet the formal criteria.