Fundings for international researchers in Austria

March 26, 2025

Illustration of a world map — FWF funding programs are also open to international researchers – not only the career programs ESPRIT and the FWF ASTRA Awards, but also the flexible Principal Investigator Project grants are especially well-suited for incoming researchers from all over the world. © Unsplash

Freedom in science and research, especially in the field of basic research, is one of the key strengths of a science and innovation location. In addition to Austria’s universities and non-university research institutions, the FWF’s funding programs make a significant contribution to the country’s open and internationally oriented scientific culture. The grants give researchers, regardless of their regional background, the financial freedom to gain new insights independently and free from outside influence, based solely on scientific excellence.

Programs for incoming researchers at all career levels

The FWF provides international researchers with many different options for acquiring funding to conduct their projects at Austrian universities and research institutions. This includes, for example, the ESPRIT career program, which has a particularly high percentage of researchers with an international background. For almost half of all ESPRIT-funded researchers, FWF funding is why they chose to come to Austria to develop their academic career. The FWF expects the new FWF ASTRA Awards to include an equally high number of incoming advanced postdocs, i.e., top researchers who have most recently worked at a research institution abroad. In addition to these two programs, Principal Investigator Project grants offer researchers a high level of flexibility and the freedom to conduct pioneering projects in all disciplines of basic research.

ESPRIT: For early-stage researchers (R2)
This funding program is aimed at highly qualified postdoc-level researchers of all disciplines in the early stages of their scientific career. An ESPRIT grant pays the principal investigator’s salary for three years.

FWF ASTRA Awards: For advanced postdocs (R3)
This program is aimed at successful, internationally visible researchers from all disciplines, including arts-based research, who already have experience with independent research work. The funding amount is a minimum of €500,000 to a maximum of €1 million for five years.

Principal Investigator Projects: For researchers at all career levels
The funding program is aimed at researchers from all disciplines who wish to carry out thematically clearly defined research projects limited to a specific duration and to devote themselves to investigating individual research questions. The funding amount is not capped and the maximum funding period is four years.

Generally speaking, all FWF grants are open to international researchers, as long as the projects are to be carried out at an Austrian university or research institution. The FWF team will be happy to answer any questions international researchers may have.