# Submission Guideline

This application must be submitted by the early career researcher. In order to submit the proposal, WWTF requires a letter of intent (LOI) from the host institution and a signature from the authorising person at the Viennese institution involved (either host or home institution).

# Register & Login

<p class="callout info"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Register </span></p>

- <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Go to <span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc70596493;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">[https://fundingportal.wwtf.at/](https://fundingportal.wwtf.at/)</span></span></span>
- Go to “Register” in the top menu
- Enter your registration data (<span style="color: rgb(224, 62, 45);">\*</span>indicates mandatory fields)
- You will receive an email to confirm registration.

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">**<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Please complete your profile as early as possible because your profile information is used in the other parts of the proposals.</span>**</span>

<p class="callout info"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc70596493;"><span lang="EN-GB">Login</span></span></p>

- <span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc70596493;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Go to </span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc70596493;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">[https://fundingportal.wwtf.at/](https://fundingportal.wwtf.at/)</span></span>
- Login with your credentials

# Create a new proposal

1. <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Go to “Calls” in the top menu</span>
2. <span lang="EN-US">Select the <span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc70596493;">ME/CFS Call 2026 "ME/CFS Fellowships" </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc70596493;">Call</span></span>
3. Click “Create new proposal” <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">à</span><span lang="EN-US"> a new proposal will be created. **Please note that a maximum of one application per applicant is permitted in this call.**</span>
4. Once created, you will find your application under “My Proposals &amp; Roles” in the top menu. You can delete your application at any time. Applications that are not submitted will be deleted automatically after the submission deadline.

<p class="callout success">**<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The Funding Portal will save your entries and changes automatically. You can pause data entry at any time. All information will be available again upon your next login.</span>**</p>

# Provide your personal data

<p class="callout info">**<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Step 1: <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Go to “Personnel and Institutions”</span></span>**</p>

- - Please click “I am the Applicant” (= you will then be named Principal Investigator and Coordinator)
    - Add the name of your intended host institution
    - Upload the letter of intent as PDF (max number of 2 pages allowed)

<p class="callout info">**<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Step 2: Complete your “Profile”</span>**</p>

*<u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Applicants need to complete the section “My Profile”</span></u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">. </span>*

1. <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Go to the tab “My Profile” in the top menu to fill out or update your profile. This information needs to be entered only once.</span>
    - Please upload or update your CV based on the template provided: [wwtf\_cvtemplate\_project.docx](https://fundingportal-test.wwtf.at/upload/wwtf_cvtemplate_project.docx)
    - This is a standardized CV for WWTF projects. Please delete the section not relevant for your application accordingly.

<p class="callout info">**<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Step 3: Complete your “Role”</span>**</p>

- - <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Under “My Roles”, click on your role below the title of the proposal.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Go to “My Proposal &amp; Roles” in the top menu. </span>**<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span lang="EN-US">You can update the personal information by clicking on “Refresh from profile”. The system will check if there is new information in “My Profile” and update this section accordingly.</span></span>**
    - <span lang="EN-US">Select your staff category. Following staff categories are allowed:</span>
        - <span lang="EN-US">Postdoc</span>
        - <span lang="EN-US">PhD Candidate</span>
        - <span lang="EN-US">MA/BA Student</span>
    - Select the Home affiliation with which you want to apply for the proposal.
    - Check the box under “Affirmation” to confirm acknowledgement of and compliance with guidelines from WWTF and additional relevant organisations.

# Curriculum Vitae and List of Publications

<p class="callout danger"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Please use the **CV template** provided. This is the correct template:"**All other calls: wwtf\_cvtemplate\_project.docx". Please remove or rename the categories not relevant for your application**</span></p>

<p class="callout warning"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Do not exceed 2 pages for the CV, as the system will not accept the upload of documents longer than 2 pages</span></p>

- <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">List all items in reverse chronological order. </span>
- For each of the selected publications (max. 10), provide 1-2 sentences outlining the relevance of the publication for the proposal.
- <span lang="EN-US">If possible, please also provide a link to a more detailed list of your publications. This may be your institutional website, personal website, an ORCID profile, Google Scholar profile, etc.</span>
- <span lang="EN-US">Describe additional qualifications or skills that are relevant for the success of the project. These may extend beyond scientific skills to experience in leadership, supervision, Open Science, etc.</span>

# Fill out the proposal

<span lang="EN-GB">The proposal can be accessed under"My Proposals and Roles" in the top right menu. </span>

<span lang="EN-GB">The proposal is compris</span>ed of five chapters (each under a tab):

- Basic Information
- Personnel and Institutions
- Project
- Budget
- Signatures

<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A chapter with a <span style="color: red;">red alert symbol</span> indicates that it is incomplete. Within the marked chapter, click on the red symbol(s) beside individual sections to highlight the fields requiring attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A <span style="color: rgb(22, 145, 121);"><span style="color: rgb(45, 194, 107);">green checkmark symbol</span> </span>indicates that the information in the chapter is complete. </span>

<p class="callout success">**<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Please note that the symbols might not refresh immediately even if the information in the chapter is complete. Changing to another chapter and going back to the other will refresh the symbol. </span>**</p>

# Chapters to fill out

<p class="callout info"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Basic Information</span></p>

<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This chapter contains basic information about the proposal, including title, scientific disciplines involved, keywords and duration.</span>

<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Please note:</span>

- <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Scientific Disciplines: Fields will be suggested as you type. WWTF uses the [ÖFOS classification system of Statistik Austria](https://data.statistik.gv.at/web/meta.jsp?dataset=OGDEXT_KLASSDB_OEFOS2012_1).</span>

<p class="callout info"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc141271757;"><span lang="EN-US">Personnel and Institutions</span></span></p>

<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This chapter contains information about the applicant and the host institution</span>

- Applicant: Information will be transferred from your Role
- Host institution
- [Letter of intent](https://wiki.wwtf.at/link/1024#bkmrk-the-overall-duration)

<p class="callout info">Project</p>

In this chapter, details about the Fellowship will be asked

**<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Lay summary of your Fellowship activities: </span>**<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Please provide a description of your Fellowship that is suitable for the general public. This will primarily be used by WWTF for communicating your work to non-experts for fundraising and public relations purposes. *(1,000 characters)*</span>

**Scientific description of your Fellowship activities<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">:</span>**<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Please provide a concise scientific abstract of the project. *(2,000 characters)*</span>

**<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Expertise: </span>**<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This section should primarily focus on you as the researcher, demonstrating your capability, maturity, and suitability for the proposed fellowship. What key skills and knowledge</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> do you currently possess that are essential for successfully executing the fellowship? How does your past experience and current expertise specifically prepare you to perform your work during the time of the fellowship? </span>*(5,000 characters)*

**<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Workplan: </span>**<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Reflect on (1) What do you want to achieve, (2) Why the work you will do during your fellowship is important for your field and (3) What specific new research methods, techniques, or tools will you be able to acquire or master during the fellowship? What is the timeline for your fellowship? </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">*(7,000 characters)*</span>

**Career Aspects:** How does the fellowship fit into your long-term academic goals? How do you expect this fellowship to accelerate your career trajectory and your professional network? <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">*(5,000 characters)*</span>

**<span lang="EN-US">Ethical considerations:</span>**<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Indicate if ethical approval of an ethics committee or institutional review board is required for the project. If so, please describe the potential ethical aspects and upload the ethical approval(s) as a single PDF. There is no page limit for the approvals, but the document may not exceed 10 MB. If no ethical aspects are identified, please provide a brief statement. *(500 characters).*</span>

<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Please note that </span></span>**<span lang="EN-US">**potential sex/gender aspects of the research topic** </span>**<span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-US">and</span></span> <span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-US">should be considered throughout the application (see “Call Specifications” document). These should be briefly described where appropriate in the relevant sections. </span></span></span>

<p class="callout warning"><span lang="EN-GB">If ethical approval has already been obtained, please upload the appropriate documents. In case a new ethical approval is pending, an acknowledgement of receipt from the ethics committee/institutional review board must be submitted with the proposal. <u>The final approval (“Votum”) must be submitted to WWTF at latest before the start of the fellowship.</u></span></p>

**<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Data Management: </span>**<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We encourage applicants to consider and briefly address the following points as appropriate *(500 characters)*:</span>

- <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What kind of accompanying metadata and documentation will help others identify, discover, reuse, and/or reproduce the research data?</span>
- <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">How will data for sharing and preservation be selected?</span>
- When will data be shared?
- In which repositories will data be archived? How long will data be retained?
- What persistent identifiers (e.g., DOI) and usage licenses (e.g., CC BY) will be used?

**<span lang="EN-US">Use of generative AI </span>**<span lang="EN-US">(max. *500 characters*)</span>

<span lang="EN-US">Please describe if and how GenAI has been used in developing your research proposal. [Please see further details here.](https://wiki.wwtf.at/books/archiviert-mecfs-call-2026-fellowships/page/use-of-generative-ai-in-the-application-process "Use of generative AI in the application process")</span>

<p class="callout info"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc141271760;"><span lang="EN-US">Budget</span></span></p>

<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Please note the following guidelines for the budget:</span>

- Non-personnel costs **should not exceed 30%**<span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> of the total requested budget.</span>
- <span style="text-indent: -18pt;">The complete budget will be transferred to the research institution in Vienna (Host or Home institution). </span>

<p class="callout warning"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Due to the budget size for the Fellowship, WWTF does **not** pay overheads in this call</span></span></p>

<p class="callout warning"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Before filling out the budget, please ensure that all information relating to your profile, your role in the project, and the host institution has been completed. If this information is incomplete, neither you nor your host institution will be shown.</span></span></p>

**<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Personnel costs</span>**

- Specify if the applicant will be financed by WWTF. Please not that you can only indicate time commitment to the project for one full year (full time equivalents). A mixture of WWTF and in-kind financing is permitted.
- Enter the annual salary that corresponds to 100% employment. The total funding requested for each person will be automatically calculated. The system automatically calculates the costs per given time duration (in this case: 6 months).

<p class="callout warning">Please be aware that the system automatically calculates the aliquot sums for your 6 month research stay</p>

**<span lang="EN-GB">Non-personnel costs</span>**

- <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Add rows to provide a concise overview of all non-personnel costs directly related to the Fellowship. Please select the institution and cost category from the dropdown menus. </span>
- Costs for basic infrastructure are **not**<span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> permitted. </span>
- WWTF strongly encourages open access publications. Costs for Article Processing Charges (APCs) may be requested.
- Costs for data management purposes (e.g., curation, storage) are eligible.
- Costs for travel, accommodation, etc.: to be covered by personnel costs or separate under non-personnel costs

**<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Cost overview</span>**

<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This is where you see all budget divided into personnel and non-personnel costs. </span>

**<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Explanation of cost planning</span>**

- <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Please provide an explanation of cost planning principles, also indicating access to resources that are already available. *10*<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">*00 characters).*</span></span>

**<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Disclosure of other applications for funding</span>**

- <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">If you have applied for funding for this project (or parts thereof) at other organisations, please indicate this here. This will not impact the evaluation of this proposal.</span>
- WWTF allows the simultaneous submission of proposals at other funding organisation. However, WWTF does not permit double funding.

# Signatures

<p class="callout info"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Applications require the signatures of the authorized person(s) at the home/host institutions located in Vienna.</span></p>

- <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Please consult the institutional research services regarding the person mandated to sign the proposals and plan sufficient time to obtain their signatured</span>
- Enter the name of the authorized person in the online form. This information will be included in the PDF to be signed.
- Download the PDF using the link “You can generate the signature sheet here”.
- Signatures may be provided in various formats 
    - Add a scanned or physical signature, and upload the form; or
    - Insert an electronic signature (e.g., A-Trust, Handysignatur) and upload the form. Please note that electronically signed PDFs cannot be merged into a single document.

# Submit the proposal

<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Once all symbols in all chapters are marked by <span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: #00b050; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">green checkmarks,</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> the proposal can be submitted. The “Submit” button is at the bottom of the “Signatures” chapter. The PI&amp;C will receive an automatic confirmation email when the Funding Portal receives the completed submission.</span>

<p class="callout warning">**<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">No changes are possible after the application has been submitted.</span>**<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> After the indicated deadline, submission is no longer possible. Unsubmitted proposals will be excluded from the ensuing evaluation process and deleted shortly after the submission deadline.</span></p>

<p class="callout success"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">You can access your submitted proposal as PDF on the page “My Proposals and Roles”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></p>

# Contact

[![Missbach.jpg](https://wiki.wwtf.at/uploads/images/gallery/2024-03/scaled-1680-/missbach.jpg)](mailto:benjamin.missbach@wwtf.at) [![Liu.jpg](https://wiki.wwtf.at/uploads/images/gallery/2024-03/scaled-1680-/liu.jpg)](mailto:grace.liu@wwtf.at)

<p class="callout info">Benjamin Missbach | <benjamin.missbach@wwtf.at> | Tel.: +43 1 402 31 43 19</p>

<p class="callout info">Grace Liu | <grace.liu@wwtf.at> | Tel.: +43 1 402 31 43 12</p>