Data | Research (DARE) - Applications for Research - Call 2025

• Call overview and facts
• Call Specifications
• General Eligibility
• Scope of the call
• Submission Process (institutional pre-selection)
• Roles and Composition of the Project Team
• Content and Structure of the Proposal
• Eligible Costs
• Evaluation Criteria
• Selection and decision process
• After the funding decision
• Key Documents and Policies
• Guidelines for good scientific practice, AI and ethics
• Gender aspects in the application phase
• Submission Guideline (WWTF Funding Portal)
• General Manual of the Funding Portal
• Create a Proposal
• Create Roles (PI / Co-PIs) for a Proposal
• CVs
• Filling out the Chapters
• Submit your Proposal
• Contact at WWTF

Call overview and facts

Data | Research (DARE) Call 2025 - Applications for Research

Scope of the Call

This call is open for projects that engage with current needs in the promotion of good data practices in a defined context as "executable applications" for data in research. "Applications" should be understood widely as, e.g., transferable use cases, software prototypes, modelling, information/data models (metadata, schema definitions and ontologies), data environments.
"Executable" means that the applications developed should be easily integrated into code or software environments in due course. They should be transferable and scalable. 

Projects should provide applications delivering useful services to research, either by rendering existing data processes more efficient or by providing tools that allow for new approaches. The outcomes of the projects shall support data collection for research and the further use of research data, however, should not be tied to a specific research project but be of wider relevance also supporting interoperability.     

Projects can takle research data related challenges in any scientific area, i.e., are not limited to computer science. However, the nature of the projects requires the integration of IT competences into the projects. 

Who can apply?

• Core teams with up to three key collaborators with a coordinating PI assuming also managerial tasks 
• The coordinating PI must be based at a university or non-university research institution in Vienna
• Co-PIs may be based outside of Vienna (funding limited to 20% of the overall budget)
• All applications must be pre-screened and authorized by the PI's institutions, otherwise, submission of proposals to this call is not possible (see "Pre-selection by institutions"

Funding

• Project duration: 12-24 months
• Budget for individual projects:  € 50,000 - 100,000
• Overall call volume: € 800,000
• Personnel and non-personnel costs can be claimed; max. 30% non-personnel costs
• In-kind contributions are not mandatory; no overhead costs will be paid

Timeline

• Proposal deadline: November 18, 2025, 2pm CET. Please regard the internal deadlines at your institution. 
• Expected funding decision: January 2026
• Project start until: July 1, 2026

Evaluation and decision process

• Application via WWTF Funding Portal
• Pre-selection by institutions
• One-stage call process
• Selection by a jury composed of international and national experts

Contact

• Michael Strassnig | michael.strassnig@wwtf.at | Tel.: +43 1 402 31 43 15
• Petra Steinkogler | petra.steinkogler@wwtf.at | Tel.: +43 1 402 31 43 14

Call Specifications

General Eligibility

The general eligibility of applicants is specified in the WWTF Funding Guideline (in German only):

• Research institutions (universities and public/private non-university research institutions) as legal entities are eligible to apply. As a rule, they must be located in Vienna.
• Their main activity must be the development of scientific knowledge within the framework of a long-term, independent and predominantly non-economic activity, the focus of which is on gaining knowledge. 
• Funding contracts are concluded with the respective institution; for universities UG 2002, § 27 is applied. The respective project must be led by scientists who work at research institutions eligible to apply or who are employed there in the course of the project.
• Predominantly commercially active companies cannot receive funding from the WWTF.
• Civil society organizations can receive funding to a certain extent as partners, provided this is specified in the respective call documents.

Scope of the call

Main goals of the call: Leverage potential in the academic research data landscape

Dealing with data in research contexts is as important as it is challenging. In many cases, good data practices encounter missing processes, lacking awareness and cultures to be sustainable, viable and impactful. While there have been some substantial public investments in digitalization and data infrastructures in the last years, there are often the human resources missing to fully capitalize on these investments. However, in many cases, good ideas cannot be realized because money and attention are missing. Most universities and research institutions have also developed digitalization and data strategies which need to be implemented via concrete projects and undertakings.

This call, thus, also aims to support institutions in their strategic capacity. In this context, it is crucial that applications developed are not one-offs, but need to be maintained and developed beyond the project duration. 

• Projects should engage with current needs in the promotion of good data practices in a defined context as "executable applications" for data in research. "Applications" should be understood widely as, e.g., transferable use cases, software prototypes, modelling, information/data models (metadata, schema definitions and ontologies), data environments.
  "Executable" means that the applications developed should be easily integrated into code or software environments in due course (either in existing or future data environments or workflows). They should be transferable and scalable.
• Projects should provide applications delivering useful services to research, either by rendering existing data processes more efficient or by providing tools that allow for new approaches. The outcomes of the projects shall support data collection for research and the further use of research data, however, should not be tied to a specific research project but be of wider relevance, also supporting interoperability.     
• Projects can tackle research data related challenges in any scientific area, i.e., are not limited to computer science. However, the nature of the projects requires the integration of IT competences into the projects. 

What is the purpose of the applications developed?

The purpose of the applications should be directed towards supporting research activities with/for data in a broad sense. It may connect to other tasks such as teaching, administration or third mission, but the focus should be on the development of applications for research activities. 

What should be the output of the project?

WWTF asks for "code" rather than text, training or talking: The output should be concrete applications in the form of use cases, best practices, data sandboxes etc. and should include code, (information) models, ontologies, application prototypes and alike. These applications - based on their code-like nature - should have the potential to be implemented in data environments/workflows in a seamless manner. The potential for transferability and scalability is an important criterion for selection. 

Activities that do not count as output

Activities and outputs listed below are not eligible for funding: 

• The production of primary research data
• The preparation of existing data sets for secondary / further use by other researchers. However, concrete data sets may serve as use cases for broader applications
• The creation of a network as a sole output
• Training and education activities as the sole output
• The procurement and installation of hardware 
• Purely text-based outputs such as strategy papers or guidelines

Defining (a) potential user group(s)

Projects need to define (a) potential user group(s) of the application developed. Projects should have benefits for wider user groups beyond the context of the project. These user groups can be located within the own institution or across institutions. Applications can also target disciplinary communities independent of institutional settings.  

Sustainability and impact

Proposals need to define how the applications developed can be consolidated/maintained and further developed beyond the lifespan of the project itself. Projects should also define how their project links to institutional data / digitalization strategies as well as (potentially) to inter-university activities. 

Dissemination and exploitation strategies

Proposals should define in what ways their outputs should be shared, be it either open or in form of licensing (monetarization). Keep in mind that WWTF prefers open science / open data approaches according to the FAIR principles, however, monetarization strategies might be justified in the context of specific projects.

Applicants need to present a dissemination plan and strategy. 

Project team

The project team may include academic researchers, and/or data stewards, IT- or administrative personnel, and/or relevant user groups. The PI&C must not necessarily be a scientist. 

Submission Process (institutional pre-selection)

Proposals must be submitted via the WWTF Funding Portal. All proposal information will be processed via this system. Proposals which arrive at WWTF any other way than the  WWTF Funding Portal will not be considered. 

Limitation of proposals submission per institution

The number of submissions per institution is limited. In case you are a potential applicant, contact the service point at your institution listed below. 

Pre-selection at institutions and submission of a proposal via WWTF Funding Portal

Proposal submission by individual applicants without the authorization / pre-selection of their institution are not possible in this call. 

Submitting institutions have to pre-select and authorize the proposals to be submitted. The leadership of the institutions must send WWTF the e-mail addresses of those authorized to submit. For those applicants authorized by the institutions, WWTF will create a proposal (considering the limitations stated above).  Please note that the same person can only be involved in max. 2 proposals.

The submitting institution is free to define their own internal selection processes, given the scope of the call. 

For the proposal pre-selection at your institution, please contact (list will be completed in due course):

Institution	Contact	Internal Deadline
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna	tba	tba
Austrian Academy of Sciences (incl. sub-GmbHs)	tba	tba
Austrian Institute of Technology	tba	tba
BOKU University	tba	tba
Central European University	tba	tba
Complexity Science Hub Vienna	tba	tba
IHS	tba	tba
Ludwig Boltzmann Society	tba	tba
mdw - University for Music and Performing Arts	tba	tba
Medical University of Vienna	Astrid Pils, astrid.pils@meduniwien.ac.at	October 6, 2025
University of Applied Arts Vienna	tba	tba
University of Vienna	Michael Feichtinger michael.feichtinger@univie.ac.at	October 6, 2025
TU Wien	vr-forschung@tuwien.ac.at; wwtf@tuwien.ac.at	October 6, 2025
Vetmeduni	tba	tba
WIFO	tba	tba
WU Wien	Beate Hareter, forschungsservice@wu.ac.at	October 15, 2025

Roles and Composition of the Project Team

The WWTF Funding Portal uses standard research project terms that might not perfectly fit this specific call. Please interpret these terms flexibly - think of them as close equivalents rather than exact matches.

A project’s core team may include up to three Principal Investigators (PIs). This includes a PI&C and up to two co-PIs. 

• Core team members may share equal roles in the project.
• The core team must have a proven record that demonstrates the ability to conduct the proposed project.
  
• Each core team member must submit a CV, which will form part of the evaluation.
• A core team member (i.e., PI&C, co-PI) may appear in a maximum of two proposals in this call. In case of three or more proposals with the same PI, WWTF will accept the first two proposals submitted. Involvement in other past / ongoing / granted WWTF projects does not impact the eligibility to apply in this call.

One PI must be designated as PI&C (PI and coordinator).

• For legal and administrative reasons (funding contract, reporting), WWTF requires a PI&C to be named. The PI&C will be the contact person for WWTF regarding all aspects of the project.
• The PI&C must have an affiliation at a Viennese research institution, which will serve as a legal contract partner. 

Up to two co-PIs may also be named in the core team.

• WWTF recognizes that co-PIs may have equally significant roles in the project. However, the PI&C will be regarded as the main contact person for the project.
• Co-PIs may be based in Vienna or elsewhere (in Austria or internationally) in fulfillment of the requirements of regular WWTF projects. 

Please note that the team can consist of scientists and/or non-scientists. I.e., IT personnel or "senior scientists", as the term is often defined at Austrian universities, can of course be part of the project team. 

Additional project partners and collaborators are permitted in the project team. 

• Non-academic collaboration partners (e.g., NGOs) may be part of the project team. 

• Industry partners are not eligible for funding, but may partake with in-kind or financial contribution.

Partners outside Vienna:

• For regular WWTF projects, project partners outside of Vienna may receive up to 20% (i.e., <20%) the total requested funding.

Content and Structure of the Proposal

The application has to be submitted via https://fundingportal.wwtf.at. A user account (and registration) is required. You can also log-in with your ACOnet credentials.

If your proposal is authorized by your institution, WWTF will create a proposal for you (linked to your email address). You will then find the proposal upon login. 

Proposals must be written in English.

Structure of the proposal

The online form consists of five chapters and describes the entirety of the proposal:

• Basic information
• Personnel and Institutions
• Project
• Budget
• Signatures

Basic information 

This chapter contains basic information about the proposal, including title, scientific disciplines involved, keywords, and duration, and type of project (i.e., regular WWTF Project or Joint Project). Fill out fields as required.

Scientific Disciplines: Fields will be suggested as you type. WWTF uses the ÖFOS classification system of Statistik Austria. As this is not a scientific research call, you may not find the relevant classifications in ÖFOS. Take those disciplines most similar to your proposed project. WWTF will use this data only for statistical purposes. It is not relevant for the evaluation of your proposal. 

Personnel and Institutions

This chapter contains information about the main parties in the project. Please note that the terminology used in the Funding Portal stems from scientific research projects. In the context of this call, they have to be understood as analogies. 

• Principal Investigator and Coordinator (PI&Co): One Person must be named as PI & Coordinator. This persons signs the funding contact and is responsible for reporting to WWTF. This person should also have a coordinating role within the project and can be either a person with scientific or technical background. 
• Two Co-PIs can be added to the project. Please note the maximum of three PIs in the core team. 
• Additional partner institutions beyond those of the core team members can be added under “Further Partner Institutions”. (The institutions of the PI&C and co-PIs are automatically added by the system.) Entering an additional institution provides the option of allocating budget to this institution in the “Budget” chapter. This may be important in case of collaboration with researchers at institutes other than those of the core team members
• A maximum of three different institutions may be involved in the proposal. This includes the institutions of the PI&C and co-PI(s).

To include 2 or 3 PIs or additional partner institutions in the project is not mandatory, but optional.

For each PI, an individual CV has to be uploaded in the "Profile". Please note, that the CV template has been made for scientific staff. Please feel free to adopt the CV template for technical staff. 

Project

This chapter contains the work programme. Fill out the following fields (please note that the character limit includes spaces):

Lay summary in German language: Please provide a description of your proposed research 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)

Abstract for experts: Please provide a concise project description. (2,000 characters)

Work programme: Please use the template provided for download in the WWTF Funding Portal. The headings in bold are mandatory (details and guiding questions can be found in the template).

Chapters of the work programme (PDF upload):

1. Background and status quo

2. Objectives and envisioned results

3. Potential user groups

4. Work plan and project team

5. Strategic fit and sustainability

6. Dissemination and exploitation strategy / impact 

7. References

The dare25_workprogramme_template.pdf is available here for information purposes. Use the word template in the Funding Portal for filling out the application. 

Applicants can decide how much space they want to spend in each subheading (1.-7.). 

Upload the completed document as PDF. The number of pages is limited to max. 8. 

Ethical Considerations: Please describe potential ethical aspects of your project (or why they contain none) and explain how you deal with them. 

Gender Aspects: Please provide considerations on gender aspects in the project. More details can be found here .

Budget

• No in-kinds are required in this call.
• WWTF does not provide overhead costs in this call. 
• A maximum of 20% of the overall budget can go outside of Vienna. 
• The personnel costs must be at least 70% of the overall funding. 

The budget table to be filled out is divided in personnel and non-personnel cost.

Please consider WWTF rules for eligible costs. 

• For each person in the project a separate line in the budget table has to be provided. 
• Non-personnel costs must also be detailed in the budget table. Try to aggregate cost positions in a meaningful way. 

A text box is provided to explain costs. 

Signatures

Submission of the proposal requires the signatures of the authorized person(s) at the host institutions of each of the PI&C and co-PIs (“Authorization”).

• Please consult your institutional research services regarding the person mandated to sign the proposals and plan sufficient time to obtain their signatures.
• Enter the name of each 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.

Please ensure signatures are dated. Undated signatures will not be accepted.

Unlike proposals in the previous WWTF Legacy Submission System, signatures from the core team are no longer required in the new Funding Portal.

Eligible Costs

I. Personnel costs

Please refer to WWTF's regulation on personnel costs as guide in the submission process.

Personnel categories

Applications for personnel costs must be in one of the following categories:

• • Senior Personnel: highly qualified scientists/technicians, usually permanently employed
  • Post Doc: or equivalent qualification, including Senior Postdocs
  • PhD Student: or equivalent qualification level
  • Diploma Student: Bachelor or Master students
  • Office/Technician: administrative or technicians (proportional funding only)

Regulations for permanently employed senior staff: Personnel costs cannot be claimed for permanent senior staff who are already fully financed by the institution. Exceptions apply in cases where senior staff must acquire third party funding for co-financing their own position (e.g., non-university research institutions and Universities of Applied Sciences). In these cases, permanently employed senior staff may claim up to 20% of their annual salary from WWTF.

Forms of employment and salaries

• Eligible forms of employment contracts are full-time and part-time working contracts as well as marginal employments (“Arbeitsvertrag”).
• Contracts for services (“Werkvertrag”) are only permitted if the nature of the work means that it cannot be performed through employment contracts. Please note that "Werkverträge" are technically non-personnel costs. 
• All persons employed through a WWTF-funded project should receive a fair employment contract. For wages / minimum wages see WWTF regulations for personnel costs. 
• Salaries higher than those stipulated in the collective agreement are possible, subject to the agreement from the host institution and justification based on qualifications of the researcher. 

Inflation adjustment for planning purposes

The budget calculation for salaries in the Funding Portal automatically includes an increase of 3.5% p.a. for the duration of the project for planning purposes.

Non-personnel costs

Please refer to WWTF's regulation on non-personnel costs as guide in the application process!

Categories for eligible non-personelle costs are: 

• Equipment
• Consumables
• Travel costs
• Publication costs
• Workshop/conferences
• other: for costs that do not fall into the categories above

Non-personnel costs should not exceed 30% of the overall budget.

Evaluation Criteria

The following criteria are used in the evaluation:

• Scope: Is the project within the scope of the call? See scope of the call. See also which activities do not count as project outputs.

Proposals that do not meet the key requirements regarding scope will be rejected by the jury, regardless of other criteria. 

Main Criteria

• Relevance and impact: How relevant is the project to potential user groups? How easy can the user groups take up the project's output? Does the project's output have the potential to serve as showcase for practices for wider user groups? How does the produced application benefit the conduct of research? 
• Transferability and scalability: What is the potential/ability of the outputs to be transferred into real world applications? Can the outcomes be scaled? 
• Sustainability and strategic fit: How sustainable are the planned applications? Is there a clear and actionable plan and strategy in place to maintain the application beyond the duration of the project? How well is the project aligned with institutional etc. strategies?

Additional Criteria

• Feasibility: Are the time frame and budget adequate for carrying out the project? Are the proposed resources suitable for achieving the goals? 
• International competitiveness and connectivity: Do the proposed projects align with international developments/practices? Does the proposed work have the potential to provide a meaningful contribution to international networks and consortia which address the same problems?
• Competences of the team: Teams should include an appropriate mix of expertise of domain and IT competences. A clear description of the roles of the individual partners and a clear project management plan must be presented.
• Consideration of gender aspects
• Consideration of ethical aspects 

Selection and decision process

Basic Process

Formal eligibility check by WWTF

WWTF office will conduct a formal eligibility check of the proposal based on the criteria outlined in the WWTF Funding Guideline, and this document. This includes:

• The number of allowed submissions per institutions has not been exceeded. 
• All required signatures (institutional authorization) are complete and valid.
• All applications comply with good scientific practice (plagiarism check with software).
• Submission of the same or highly similar ideas to other funding organizations, which must be explicitly declared in the full proposal. Application for funding at other organizations is permitted and will not impact the evaluation. In case of funding, applicants will be asked by which organization they wish to be funded, as double funding is not permitted by WWTF.

Substantial deficiencies and missing sections in the application will lead to the exclusion of the application from further evaluation and rejection on formal grounds. The strict timeline of the call does not allow for proposals to be sent back to the applicants for amendments.

Selection by the Call Jury

The core element of WWTF’s decision-making processes is the call jury mandated to make a funding recommendation to the WWTF boards. 

• Depending on the call (size, scope etc) the jury is comprised of 6-10 national and international experts. Please note, due to the nature of the call (Supplementary Measure; data infrastructure contexts), national experts will be part of the jury. 
• Jury members are selected by WWTF according to their expertise in the call topic. They have no known conflict of interest prior to the submission deadline. 
• The names of jury members will be published on the WWTF website after the WWTF Board of Directors finalize the formal funding decision.   

The decision will be taken by the jury only. No external reviews will be sought. 

Basis for the decision-making is the individual assessment of the proposals ahead of the jury meeting by the jury members and a two-day selection meeting. The jury provides funding recommendation of projects to the WWTF Boards.

The jury may recommend budget cuts as well as additional conditions for funding.

Formal funding decision by WWTF Boards

The jury recommendation will be formally confirmed first by the WWTF Advisory Board and then approved by the WWTF Board of Directors.

Notification of Applications

• Applicants will be promptly informed about the decision. 
• Unsuccessful applicants will receive a short statement by the jury explaining the main reasons why the project was not selected for funding.

Please note that WWTF does not allow the opportunity for rebuttals to either recommendations by the jury panel or decisions by the WWTF Board of Directors.

After the funding decision

Announcement of Funding Decision

You will be notified via email about the outcome of the selection process. 

Notification about funding decision: TBA (prospectively early February 2026) 

Funding Contract 

In case of funding, WWTF office will contact the PI&C to draw up the funding contract. 

• Projects may start immediately and should start no later than July 1, 2026.
• The funding contract will be signed between WWTF and the host institution of the PI&C. For universities, this is a project according to §27 of the Universities Act 2002. The institution then authorizes the respective PI to sign for the full scientific and financial responsibility of the project.
• The funding contract allows for the adjustment of certain aspects of the proposal (e.g., costs). 

Monitoring and reporting

Funded teams commit themselves to delivering reports and participating in evaluation and monitoring. WWTF offers the possibility to adapt the work plan according to project needs. For details, see the Reporting and Accounting Guideline.

Key Documents and Policies

This document specifies the process, criteria, and instrument of this call. It is aimed at applicants wishing to submit a proposal in the Data Call 2025.

For further information regarding the funding and submission guidelines, as well as references to WWTF policies, please consider the following documents:

Submission Guideline	Guide to creating, editing and submitting a proposal
WWTF Funding Guideline	General Guideline for WWTF funding activities. This special call is issued within the WWTF instrument “supplementing measures” (“Ergänzende Instrumente”) specified in the Funding Guideline.
Guideline for Good Scientific Practice	Guidelines by the Austrian Agency for Research Integrity
Open Science Policy	Open Science Policy of WWTF
Gender Equality Strategy & Plan	Gender Equality Strategy & Plan of WWTF
Reporting and Accounting Guideline	Specifies reporting and accounting for funded projects

Guidelines for good scientific practice, AI and ethics

Good scientific practice

Compliance with the rules for good scientific practice, including the observance of ethical aspects in research, is mandatory. This pertains to the application process and, in case of funding, the research work.

• WWTF is member of the Austrian Agency for Research Integrity (OeAWI) and thus committed to their standards for good scientific practice. Hence, applicants must comply to OeAWI standards 
• In case of suspected scientific misconduct, WWTF will employ the ombudsperson at the applicant’s institution or request OeAWI to investigate the case.
• Based on the outcome of investigations by the ombudsperson or OeAWI, WWTF reserves the right to exclude the applicants and the application from the involved and future calls.

Use of generative AI in the application process

WWTF recognizes that the use of genAI tools is pervasive and can facilitate proposal writing, for example in relation to improving written language. However, substantial use of genAI must be declared as such for the sake of transparency. 

“Substantial use” is defined in line with the European Commission’s definition: “[…] using generative AI as a basic author support tool is not a substantial use. However, interpreting data analysis, carrying out a literature review, identifying research gaps, formulating research aims, developing hypotheses, etc. could have a substantial impact.” (EC 2024: Living Guidelines on the responsible use of generative AI in research.)  

This mainly concerns critical parts of scientific relevance, such as hypothesis formulation and the scientific project plan. Applicants will be required to provide statements on the use of generative AIs at both the short and full proposal stages. WWTF emphasizes the importance of human responsibility for the content submitted at all stages of the application process. 

WWTF does not allow the use of genAI in its evaluation process. 

Ethical aspects of the planned research

Project proposals may include ethical aspects that require the approval from an ethics committee/institutional review board. Please consider WWTF’s requirements regarding ethical aspects and, if applicable, upon the selection of a project for funding.

• In the proposal, applicants provide a brief statement regarding the ethical aspects of the project. Applicants must indicate whether a formal ethical approval is required for the proposed work.
• If the nature of the project requires a formal ethical approval, it has to be included in the submission of the project. If an ethical approval for the proposed work cannot be provided in the given timeline (deadline for the submission), applicants must provide a timeline and an explanation of the feasibility of obtaining the necessary ethical approvals. In the latter case, applicants commit themselves to obtaining the required permits to commence the project in a timely manner, should it be selected for funding.
• Upon selection for funding, submission of the final ethical approvals to WWTF is a prerequisite for the funding contract. As projects must start no later than 6 months after funding approval, grantees must ensure that ethical approvals are submitted to WWTF in time for the funding contract to be concluded.

Please note that the feasibility of obtaining the required ethical approval will be considered during the evaluation of the full proposal. Insufficient demonstration of the ability to obtain ethical approvals within a timely manner may result in the project being excluded by the jury panel.

Please note the following requirements regarding ethical approvals for WWTF-funded projects.

• The approval by the ethics committee should be specific for the planned WWTF project. Therefore, the title of the project should be the same as on the approval (minor deviations are possible). If the title of the approved research differs significantly from the proposed project, a statement must be provided (in the Funding Portal), confirming that the approval will cover the planned research.
• If the main applicant for the ethical approval is not a core team member (i.e., PI&C or co-PI) of the WWTF proposal, a clear statement must be included in the proposal, in which a core team member confirms that he/she is authorized to conduct the planned research within this ethical approval.
• If the planned research is covered by an existing approval, the applicants must submit the extension of the approval (“Verlängerung der Gültigkeit des Votums”). The above also applies for extensions.

Non-compliance will result in the rejection of the proposal on formal grounds.

Gender aspects in the application phase

WWTF’s Gender Strategy and Gender Equality Plan must be considered throughout the application. Please note that WWTF requests jury members and reviewers to take into account both gender and specific roles in research team composition, as well as gender in research content during evaluation processes.

The following questions should be considered during development of the proposal:

Equal opportunities in research

• Please take into consideration gender balance/equality in the project consortium at all levels, including in decision-making positions, e.g., what steps have been taken to approach / achieve it?
• Do working conditions allow all members of staff to combine work and family life in a satisfactory manner?
• Are there mechanisms in place to manage and monitor gender equality aspects, e.g., workforce statistics?

Gender in research content and in the research ideas phase

• If the research involves humans as research objects, has the relevance of gender to the research topic been analysed?
• If the research does not directly involve humans, have potentially differentiated relations of men and women to the research subject (e.g., relevance, impact of findings) been sufficiently considered?
• Have literature and other sources relating to gender differences in the research field been consulted?

Proposal phase

• Does the methodology ensure that (possible) gender differences will be investigated: that sex/ gender differentiated data will be collected and analysed throughout the research cycle and will be part of the final publication?
• Does the proposal explicitly and comprehensively explain how gender issues will be handled?
• If there are no identifiable gender aspects after a detailed review by the applicants, this must be justified, e.g., by providing reasons to demonstrate that no sex, gender, and other relevant differences have been found.

Research phase

• If there are further aspects of the project in which sex/gender could be a factor (e.g., samples, testing groups), are these gender-balanced?
• Are questionnaires, surveys, focus groups, etc. designed to unravel potentially relevant sex and/or gender differences in your data?
• Is data analysed according to the sex variable? Are other relevant variables analysed with respect to sex?

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Further resources

• Gender in Research Toolkit by Yellow Window: https://www.yellowwindow.com/genderinresearch
• Gendered Innovations, Stanford University: http://genderedinnovations.stanford.edu/methods-sex-and-gender-analysis.html
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research: https://www.cihr-irsc-igh-isfh.ca/

Submission Guideline (WWTF Funding Portal)

General Manual of the Funding Portal

For the manual regarding the general features (create account, login, etc.) of the Funding Portal see here.

Create a Proposal

You cannot create a proposal yourself. This call features a pre-selection process by your institution. In case your proposal is greenlit by your institution, your institution will provide us with your email address for which WWTF will create a proposal. 

Upon login, you will find your proposal ready to be filled out. 

To be able to access your proposal, you either need an WWTF account or login with your institutional address (for ACOnet participants). 

Create Roles (PI / Co-PIs) for a Proposal

WWTF requires information only about the researchers in the project’s core team, i.e., the PI&C and up to two co-PIs.

How to invite PIs & Co-PIs to the proposal:

Step 1: Invite the PI&C and co-PIs

1. Go to the tab “Personnel and Institutions” in the proposal
2. Invite a “Principal Investigator and Coordinator” by providing their contact information.

• • In case you are the PI&C, please click “I am the Principal Investigator”. You can then invite further co-PIs to this proposal.
  • In case you are not the PI&C, you will need to be invited to the proposal. The invited PI will receive an email to accept the invitation. The invited person can login with an existing account or register as a new user. You and the PI&C can then invite further co-PIs to the proposal.

Step 2: Complete your “Profile”

The PI&C and all co-PIs must complete “My Profile”. If you are creating a project on behalf of others and are not part of the Core Team, you do not need to provide this information.

1. Upon login, go to “My Profile” in the top menu to fill out or update your profile. This information needs to be entered only once and can then be used for multiple proposals or in future calls.

• • Please upload or update your CV. Please check this section of the submission guideline for more information.
  • Should you have multiple affiliations, these can be added in your profile. Different affiliations may then be used for different proposals.

Step 3: Complete your “Role”

Go to “My Proposal & Roles” in the top menu. Under “My Roles”, click on your role below the title of the proposal.

• • 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. 

  • Enter data in the respective fields:

    • Scientific expertise

Please note that the term "Scientific Expertise" means "Expertise" in this call. WWTF cannot change the heading without affecting other calls. 

• • • Role and responsibilities within the project (500 characters)

    • Specific competencies for the project (500 characters)

Please note that the information entered here should be specific to the project. If you are participating in multiple proposals that requires different subsets of your expertise, please tailor the information according to the project.

• • Select the affiliation with which you want to apply for the proposal. Please note that an authorization signature will be required from this institute for the proposal.

  • Check the box under “Affirmation” to confirm acknowledgement of and compliance with guidelines from WWTF and additional relevant organisations.

As the Funding Portal automatically relays entered information about the PI&C and co-PIs into subsequent parts of the proposal, we recommend that the core team members fill out these sections early (e.g., institutions of the core team members are automatically added to the budget).

CVs

Please use the CV template provided in the funding portal. Please use the following template:"All other calls: wwtf_cvtemplate_project.docx"

• List all items in reverse chronological order.
  
• 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.
• Describe additional qualifications or skills that are relevant for the success of the project. For this call, this includes technical expertise in software engineering as well as other skills such as leadership. 

Do not exceed 2 pages for the CV, as the system will not accept the upload of documents longer than 2 pages

Different CVs in case of the submission of two proposals within a call

Applicants have the possibility to submit two proposals. This may necessitate slightly different versions of the CV (publications specific to the proposals). In this case, the following procedure is recommended:

• Upload the CV for Proposal A in "PROFILE" (top menu)
• Go to "MY PROPOSALS & ROLES" (top menu)
• On this page in section "My roles" click on "Principal Investigator and Coordinator" of Proposal A
• In the page that opens click on the green button "Refresh from Profile"

Now, the CV is imported from your profile to Proposal A, and only to Proposal A! 

• Again, go to "PROFILE" (top menu), delete the existing CV and upload the new CV for Proposal B
• Go to "MY PROPOSALS & ROLES" (top menu)
• On this page in section "My roles" click on "Principal Investigator and Coordinator" of Proposal B
• In the page that opens click on the green button "Refresh from Profile"

As a result, Proposal A and B should have different CVs. 

Filling out the Chapters

See here regarding the details. 

Submit your Proposal

Once all symbols in all chapters are marked by green checkmarks, the proposal can be submitted. The “Submit” button is at the bottom of the “Signatures” chapter. 

The PI&C will receive an automatic confirmation email when the Funding Portal receives the completed submission. Please check your emails after hitting the submit button. If you do not receive a confirmation email, please get in touch with the Call Manager. 

You can access your submitted proposal as PDF on the page “My Proposals and Roles”. 

No changes are possible after the project has been submitted. 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.

Contact at WWTF

Call-Managers: 

Michael Strassnig | michael.strassnig@wwtf.at | Tel.: +43 1 402 31 43 15

Petra Steinkogler | petra.steinkogler@wwtf.at | Tel.: +43 1 402 31 43 14