1000 Ideas Program: Fourth Call

November 8, 2023

Viele bunte Heißluftballons aus der Froschperspektive am blauen Himmel — © Unsplash

The stated objective of the 1000 Ideas program is to enhance the innovative power of Austrian basic research by providing researchers at Austrian research institutions with the resources they need to implement their visionary ideas. “If you don’t go beyond what you already know and think outside the box, you’ll never discover anything new,” explains the chair of the jury, James W. Kirchner (ETH Zurich), who encourages researchers to “explain your creative ideas clearly and understandably – for experts in other disciplines as well – and submit your proposals”.

Putting original and risky ideas into practice

To be eligible for 1000 Ideas funding, research ideas must show a high degree of scientific and transformative potential. This often involves challenging conventional understandings of the respective discipline and – in the best case – can represent a major advance in the specific field. The program enables researchers to implement particularly original or high-risk project ideas which cannot be funded as part of other funding programs. In addition to high scientific/scholarly quality, the 1000 Ideas program of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) specifically supports projects that also take risks.

Submissions possible until January 16, 2024

Based on the high level of interest in previous calls and the by now proven concept, the FWF is now opening the fourth call for proposals under the 1000 Ideas program. Proposals can be submitted until January 16, 2024. The project proposals submitted in anonymous form to the 1000 Ideas program will be evaluated in a double-blind procedure by a 20-member international jury chaired by James W. Kirchner. The Scientific Board will then decide on the awarding of funding based on the jury’s recommendations. The selected researchers will receive up to €175,000 per project for a maximum of 24 months.

Nearly €3.5 million in funding available

186 project proposals were submitted for the third call of the 1000 Ideas program. Twenty projects at 13 universities and research institutions were selected to receive a total of €3 million in funding. Approximately €3.5 million in funding is available for the fourth call.

Open for AI Mission Austria and AI Green projects

The fourth call of the 1000 Ideas program is also part of the AI Mission Austria and AI Green call. This funding initiative has its own separate budget and is focusing on artificial intelligence. It is financed by the Fonds Zukunft Österreich and administered by the FWF together with aws and FFG.