For many years, the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) has been supporting and promoting open science practices and working to ensure that publications, research data, and other research outputs are made available online and as openly as possible. The FWF has had an open-access policy for peer-reviewed publications in place since 2004, and today, the majority of all publications resulting from FWF projects are available open-access. The FWF helps researchers comply with its open-access policy by providing additional funding for open-access publications through the programs Open-Access Block Grant, Book Publications, Digital Publications, and Academic Journals. The FWF is also committed to establishing, maintaining, and supporting open science infrastructures. The FWF Policy for Research Data Management and the Open-Access Policy for Research Data, introduced in 2019, ensure that the research data publications are based on is as FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) and open as possible. The FWF has also been providing targeted funding for citizen science projects since 2015 through its Top Citizen Science program.
Open Science
Open Access Policy
As a signatory to the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, the FWF is committed to supporting free and sustainable access to academic publications and research data. With this in mind, the FWF requires and encourages all grant recipients, project leaders and project staff to make their peer-reviewed research results freely accessible on the Internet if they result in full or in part from projects funded by the FWF.
Discover moreResearch Data Management
Research data management is an integral part of good research practice. A data management plan (DMP) describes how data and its metadata are collected, organized, stored, published, shared, and archived for a given project. A DMP also explains how to make the data FAIR, that is, Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.
Discover moreCitizen Science
One of the FWF’s tasks is to bridge the gap between science and society. This can be achieved both through communication on scientific issues as well as through active participation in scientific processes. Using the motto “Research with you and me”, the Top Citizen Science program enables researchers to involve citizens actively in a research process. Ongoing FWF projects can be expanded to include a project in which the citizen science approach is implemented.
Discover moreOpen Science Infrastructures
To further the transition to Open Science, the Austrian Science Fund annually supports Open Science infrastructures and platforms.
Discover moreOpen Science Funding
The FWF supports open science activities within the framework of various funding programs and initiatives. An overview of these funding opportunities can be found below.
Discover more