€94.7 Million for Excellent Basic Research

In this year’s final round of awards, the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) is funding 146 research projects with around €94.7 million. Details of the approved projects are now available online.
December 4, 2024
Ein Wassertropfen trifft auf eine Wasseroberfläche auf
In its latest round of approvals, the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) gave the green light for 146 new basic research projects, totaling approximately €94.7 million in funding granted. © Unsplash/Terry Vlisidis

Once again, Principal Investigator Projects accounted for the largest share of approvals. At its 101st Scientific Board meeting, the FWF approved 62 Principal Investigator Projects worth €26.5 million. This program offers researchers maximum flexibility to carry out pioneering projects in all areas of basic research. It provides principal investigators and their research teams with the resources they need to investigate specific research questions over a period of several years. In International Programs, which are carried out jointly with international partner funding organizations, decisions by the partner organizations are still pending.

 

Three new Special Research Areas to launch

Generating more basic knowledge in historical language research, cognitive psychology, and mathematical models for medicine – the FWF is strengthening cutting-edge research in Austria with three new Special Research Areas based on international standards. The new networks, coordinated by researchers from the Central European University, the University of Graz, and the University of Innsbruck, will each receive approximately €4 million in funding over a period of four years.

 

New Research Groups start collaborations

The FWF’s Research Groups funding, with one call each year, is aimed at smaller teams working on complex research questions. Independent of their physical location, teams pursue inter- or multidisciplinary approaches in their research. In the current funding period, teams coordinated by the University of Graz, Graz University of Technology, and the University of Innsbruck were selected for funding, with a total volume of €4.4 million.

 

65 new doctoral positions created throughout Austria

The doc.funds and doc.funds.connect programs strengthen doctoral training programs at universities and universities of applied sciences, giving doctoral students more career opportunities and helping them gain a foothold in promising research fields. In the latest round of approvals, eight research teams were selected for funding based on their convincing concepts; the FWF is investing a total of €16.2 million in 65 new doctoral positions throughout Austria.