ESS26 - Resilience and Crises / Details of Chapters

Chapter "Basic Information"

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

Please note:

Scientific Disciplines: Fields will be suggested as you type. WWTF uses the ÖFOS classification system of Statistik Austria. Please find the best match possible. Please note that WWTF uses these categories for statistical purposes only. It is not used for the assessment of individual projects. A maximum of 4 different scientific disciplines is possible.
Keywords: These will help us allocate the proposals to jury members.
Duration: Select a duration for the project (12-18 months).
Joint Project: Please indicate if this proposal is a Joint Project, i.e. includes partners from Lower Austria with a higher share possible from the overall project budget. For details regarding team composition and budget distribution, please see here.

Chapter "Personnel and Institutions"

This chapter contains information about the main parties in the project. Please see here how to invite PIs to the project.

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 five different institutions may be involved in the proposal. This includes the institutions of the PI&C and co-PI(s).

Before proceeding to the Chapter "Budget", please make sure that all PIs and CoPIs have been invited (and that they filled our the Profile and Role) and that all additional partner institutions are added. The Budget tool of the online form needs this information to allocate the cost lines to institutions. If this step has not been completed, the system might miscalculate the budget.

Chapter "Project"

This chapter contains the main part of the scientific information regarding the project.

Lay Summary

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.
The summary may not exceed 2,000 characters.

Abstract

It may include the following aspects: (i) wider research context & state of the art; (ii) novelty; (iii) theoretical considerations, hypotheses, research questions & objectives; (iv) methodological approaches and workplan; (v) relevance and expected outcome. The abstract should be written for the jury composed both of social scientists, other researchers with expertise regarding the call's main topics as well as non-academic experts on the topics of the call.
The abstract may not exceed 2,000 characters.

Work Programme

This part is the main scientific content of the proposal. Make sure that the main headings (see also template in the Funding Portal) are addressed in the document. The length of individual subchapters may be defined freely by the applicants, provided that the total length of the document does not exceed eight pages. Addressing sex and gender aspects throughout the application is a mandatory part of the proposal, which will be considered during evaluation.

The work programme comprises the following chapters:

1. Introduction and state-of-the-art

This section should outline the scientific background and current state of the art relevant to the proposed research. Applicants are expected to clearly demonstrate how the proposed topic addresses both scientifically and societally relevant questions within the scope of the call.

The proposal should explain the scientific importance of the chosen topic and articulate its relevance to societal challenges regarding resilience and crises. Applicants should justify the selection of the crisis or crises addressed, situating them within current scientific debates as well as broader societal needs and policy contexts.

Applicants are also expected to position their previous and ongoing work within the existing state of the art and to explain how this prior expertise underpins and informs the proposed work programme, demonstrating both continuity and added value beyond current knowledge (Please note that this call does not require applicants to be experts in crises or resilience studies; however, they should have expertise in the domain to which the chosen crisis relates to).

2. Innovativeness and original contribution

This section should identify the key scientific challenges and gaps in the existing body of research relevant to the proposed topic. Applicants are expected to clearly articulate how the project addresses these challenges and advances beyond the current state of knowledge.

The proposal should specify in which respects the project is innovative and novel, in particular regarding capacity building. The expected contribution of the research to the field should be made explicit. Given the nature of the funding (max. 100,000 € for a short-term funding period), a huge step is not expected.

Applicants should also briefly describe the interdisciplinary approach adopted in the project and explain how the combination of diverse disciplinary perspectives and expertise within the research team contributes to the project’s originality and innovative potential (see also subchapter 7).

3. Conceptual considerations

This section should present the key conceptual/theoretical frameworks guiding the proposed research. Applicants should explain how these frameworks inform the analysis of the selected crisis or crises and address the main themes of the call, such as resilience and uncertainty.

The proposal should also outline the conceptual/theoretical basis for the project’s anticipatory aspects, including approaches such scenario building, and indicate how these support the analysis of future developments and uncertainties.

4. Research questions and objectives

This section should clearly and precisely define the research questions and objectives of the proposed project: Why are the selected crisis or crises suitable for the project? How will it be approached? Why are the chosen crisis or crises a suitable starting point for studying and strengthening societal resilience?

Furthermore, the proposal should explain how the research design enables the development of actionable, practice-oriented outcomes and how these are expected to generate tangible real-world impacts beyond academia (with a view on funding phase two).

5. Methodological approaches and workplan

Please provide a well-structured work plan (including work packages and key milestones). The work plan may also include a meaningful and self-explanatory visual representation. Include a description of the methodological approaches you aim to employ, in particular with regard to anticipatory approaches as well as how you aim to reach practitioners and how you aim to create and build networks both within academia and with societal actors.

6. Expected outcomes and outlook for funding phase two

Please explain what you intend to achieve with the project. What would be the potential next steps in case your project will be selected for phase two of the funding?

7. Project team and interdisciplinary collaboration

Describe how the project team collectively, based on their individual expertise and the disciplinary backgrounds, is able to achieve the overall goals of the proposed project. Describe the expertise and competences of the PI&C in the field of social sciences. Justify the disciplinary composition of the project team (in particular when both disciplines come from the social sciences).

How is interdisciplinary collaboration organised within the project? Please ensure that this section is consistent with the information you have provided in the "Roles" section ("Specific scientific competences for the project" and "Roles and responsibilities within the project") in the online forms of the funding portal.

8. References

The number of references is not limited. Please use a referencing style that is accepted by an interdisciplinary community.

Formal requirements

The main headings in bold are mandatory. Please use subheadings as you see fit.
Make sure that the layout facilitates readability of the proposal. You may use a different layout (e.g., font type), however be consistent and use a common font type (no narrow style) with good readability both online and printed. Font size should be 11 pt. Line spacing should be between 1.3 and 1.5. You may include figures, tables, etc. to improve the scientific presentation. Be careful with colored figures as the proposal might be printed out in b/w.
Please do not add any headers or footers (such as page numbers, proposal number, title of proposal), since this information will be added automatically to the file upon upload of the PDF.
You may use any text processors (MS Word, LaTeX, etc.)
A final PDF of maximum 8 pages is permitted.

Ethical considerations

Indicate if there is an ethical approval necessary as a formal requirement to conduct of your research project. Outline the potential ethical aspects of your proposed project. These may include, but are not restricted to human participants, the use personal data, but also the use of artificial intelligence. If no ethical aspects are identified, please also provide an explanation. Note that only providing a cursory statement (e.g., "no ethical aspects") will not be regarded as sufficient consideration of ethical aspects by the applicants. For more details, see here. (Max. 1,000 characters).

Use of generative AI

Please describe if and how GenAI has been used in developing your research proposal. Please find further details here. (Max. 800 characters).

Chapter "Budget"

Please note the following guidelines for the budget:

For personnel costs, an annual 3.5% p.a. increase in salary over the lifetime of the project has been pre-programmed. This is intended to assist with planning only, and actual salaries should be paid according to institutional or collective agreements. Please use baseline salaries according to the date you expect to start the project. (The project should start the latest January 2027.) Please contact your institutional research support services in this matter.
Non-personnel costs should not exceed 50% of the total requested budget.
Details about eligible costs can be accessed here.

Personnel costs

Make sure that all institutions are added before in the "Personnel and Institutions" chapter. Otherwise the system cannot assign additional persons to institutions and thus the budget overview is not correctly displayed.

Click “Additional person” to individually add all persons who will work on the project. Please provide their name or select “is N.N.” if the role is to be filled (e.g., PhD candidate, Post Doc). Indicate the affiliation and staff category of each person using the dropdown menu. If an affiliation is not listed, return to the section “Personnel and Institutions” and add the respective institution. Each person must be assigned to an institution for the system's calculations in the background.
Specify if the person will be financed by WWTF or contribute on an in-kind basis, and indicate their yearly time commitment to the project for each year (full time equivalents). A mixture of WWTF and in-kind financing is permitted.
For persons financed by WWTF, enter the annual salary that corresponds to 100% employment in the first year of the project (keep that in mind in particular for PhD candidates whose position is often calculated on a 0.75 basis). The total funding requested for each person will be automatically calculated.

Non-personnel costs

Add rows to provide a concise overview of all non-personnel costs directly related to the project. Please select the institution and cost category from the dropdown menus. If an affiliation is not listed, return to the section “Personnel and Institutions” and add the respective institution.
Costs for basic infrastructure (rent, telephone) are not permitted.
Costs for larger equipment is also not permitted.
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.

Budget per region

Cost overview

Enter the overhead rate for each institution. WWTF permits a maximum of 20% overheads costs. Please consult each institutions’ research services to ensure compliance with all institutions’ internal regulations.
The proportions of the budget allocated to personnel and non-personnel costs are also shown. Please note that, in this call, non-personnel costs should not exceed ~~40%~~50% of the total budget.
The system will display an alert if the inserted amounts exceed the permitted funding distribution across regions or cost types.

Explanation of Cost Planning

Max. 2,500 characters.
Please provide an explanation of cost planning principles, also indicating access to resources that are already available.

Disclosure of other applications for funding

Max. 750 characters.
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.
The WWTF policy on simultaneous submissions to other funding organisations does not allow double funding. If both of your proposals are funded, we will ask you to decide which funding you will accept.
Double funding will be reviewed by the FWF. This means that the FWF will receive the list of projects and check whether a similar project has already been submitted to the FWF.

Chapter "Signatures"

Please see general user guidelines.