ICT25 / Call Specifications

• ICT25 / Scope of the call
• ICT25 / Submission
• ICT25 / Eligibility of applicants and roles in the project
• ICT25 / Joint Projects with partners in Lower Austria
• ICT25 / Content and structure of the proposal
• ICT25 / Evaluation criteria
• ICT25 / Eligible costs
• ICT25 / Gender aspects in the application phase
• ICT25 / Guidelines for good scientific practice and ethics
• ICT25 / Open Science
• ICT25 / Use of generative AI in the application process
• ICT25 / Selection and decision process
• ICT25 / Funding contract
• ICT25 / Community Building
• ICT25 / Monitoring and reporting

ICT25 / Scope of the call

This call seeks to enable cutting-edge projects that improve the understanding of fundamental research questions in ICT, thus enhancing the international visibility of Vienna’s innovative ICT research landscape, 

This call is open to researchers from all areas of ICT. Projects should address fundamental, hypothesis-driven research questions, develop and apply cutting-edge methodology, and present a clearly defined research plan. Project topics may range from theoretical computer science to the intersection of ICT with other domains (e.g. health, energy, industry, transport, finance and other societal issues). Proposals should focus on advancing basic knowledge in ICT while laying the foundations for future high-impact applications. Projects may be focused within a single discipline or be interdisciplinary in nature.

ICT25 / Submission

To submit a proposal in this call, please go to the WWTF Funding Portal.

Important information for your submission

Proposal deadline: February 11th, 2025, 2pm CET

• All core team members i.e., coordinating PI (PI&C) and co-PIs, may access and edit the proposal.
• Only the PI&C can submit the proposal.
• Signatures of the authorised signatories of each PI&C and co-PI institution are required in the application process.
• All proposals must be submitted in English.

Details on the submission process can be found in this section.

ICT25 / Eligibility of applicants and roles in the project

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

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 management and scientific roles in the project.
• The core team must have an excellent scientific track record that demonstrates the ability to conduct the proposed research project.
• WWTF especially encourages young and female scientists to apply as PI.
• Each core team member must submit a CV, which will form part of the evaluation.
• A researcher may appear as a core team member (i.e., PI&C, co-PI) 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 upon eligibility to apply in this call.

One PI must be designated as PI&C.

• 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. This also applies to researchers moving to Vienna, who will have a Viennese affiliation in case of funding.
• The PI&C should be an expert in an area relevant to the topic of the proposal. He/she must have an excellent scientific track record and a proven capability to manage projects.

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

• WWTF recognizes that co-PIs may have equally significant scientific 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, Lower Austria or elsewhere (in Austria or internationally) in fulfillment of the requirements of regular WWTF projects or Joint Projects (see below).

Additional project partners and collaborators are permitted in the research team. They can be added by name in the full proposal stage.

• No industry involvement is required. Industry partners are not eligible for funding, but may partake with in-kind or financial contribution.
• Non-academic collaboration partners (e.g., NGOs) may be part of the research team. However, the core team members and the majority of additional team members in the proposal should have an academic background.

Research partners outside Vienna:

• For regular WWTF projects, project partners outside of Vienna may receive up to 20% of the total requested funding.
• This call operates under the “Joint Projects” agreement with the Province of Lower Austria. 

ICT25 / Joint Projects with partners in Lower Austria

WWTF welcomes Joint Project (JP) applications between Viennese and Lower Austrian universities and research institutions in this call. The aims of this initiative are to promote research cooperation between Lower Austria and Vienna on equal terms and to strengthen cooperation of research institutions in the Vienna region.

• To incentivize the cooperation, the total maximum funding amount for a JP consortium is € 880,000 (i.e., an additional € 80,000 compared to the maximum for a regular WWTF project).
• The PI&C must be affiliated to a Vienna research institution.
•  At least one Co-PI must be affiliated to a research institution in Lower Austria.
• The share of the overall funding allocated to research institutions in Lower Austria must be between 20% and 49%. In case that the share is <20%, the project is considered as a regular WWTF project and is thus not eligible for the higher maximum funding amount.
• The Lower Austrian share is financed by the Province of Lower Austria. Hence, the Lower Austrian project partner must comply with the Lower Austrian Culture Promotion Act 1996 and the directives issued on the basis thereof. Further details will be provided in the funding contract.
• Partners outside Vienna or Lower Austria are also possible and may request up to 20% of the total budget. However, the share of the budget allocated to partner(s) in Vienna must not be lower than 51%.
• Regional branches of Viennese Institutions (e.g., BOKU, VetMed, AIT) located in Lower Austria are considered as Vienna-based in the context of WWTF funding activities.

A conversion between JPs and regular WWTF projects is not possible between the short and full proposal phases.

ICT25 / Content and structure of the proposal

The content and structure of the proposal are defined and specified in the submission guideline. Please register and create a proposal to learn more about the details via our Funding Portal. An overview of the main parts of the short and full proposal is provided below:

Short Proposal	Full proposal
Abstract (EN)	Lay summary and scientific abstract
Project description (about 4-5 pages): outline of the main scientific research idea and approach	Project description (about 12-15 pages): elaboration on the research idea and approach (upload of PDF, template with structure is provided)
Project core team: with CVs and publications lists (upload of PDF, template with structure is provided)	Project team and further collaboration partners: with CVs and publications lists for the core team members (upload of PDF, template with structure is provided)
Budget overview	Detailed budget
Signatures: required from the researchers and the institutions of the core team members	Signatures: required from the researchers and all participating institutes

Please note that the short proposal is intended for a jury panel with expertise covering a range of proposals, while the full proposal is primarily aimed at experts in the specific topics of the proposal.

ICT25 / Evaluation criteria

The following criteria are used in the evaluation.

• Scope: is the project within the scope of the call? Projects that are not within the thematic scope will be immediately rejected by the jury, regardless of scientific quality. 
  

The key criteria in the evaluation of proposals are scientific excellence. In detail, this means:

• Innovative character of the proposed research project: Does the proposed research work meet the highest relevant international quality standards? Does the project show scientific originality and innovative aspects? Are the methods and research approaches appropriate and innovative?
• Scientific excellence and academic potential of the applicant(s): Accomplishments and potential of the applicants to conduct the proposed research (measured by academic age).

Further criteria:

• Team composition and interdisciplinary collaboration: Teams should include an appropriate mix of expertise, bringing together researchers from complementary scientific disciplines if required. A clear description of the roles of the individual partners and a clear project management plan must be presented.
• Relevance and impact: What are the mid- to long-term academic and societal impacts of the advancements expected from the project?
• Feasibility: is the timeframe sufficient for carrying out the project? Are the proposed resources suitable for achieving the goals? Is the budget adequate?
• Consideration of gender aspects: The relevance of potential sex-specific and gender-related aspects of the proposed projects should be considered and explained throughout the proposal.

Other aspects:

• Career breaks such as for parental leave, care duties and longer illnesses will be taken into account in the evaluation of the proposals. Please indicate the time periods to allow them to be considered.  
• For further information on WWTF’s gender guideline, please go to this section

ICT25 / Eligible costs

All costs that are directly attributable to the project and are regarded as commonly required in the respective scientific field are eligible for funding. Please also consider your organization’s internal guidelines for eligible expenses/costs.

Personnel costs

WWTF is dedicated to funding researchers. Hence, the larger share of the project’s budget should be allocated to personnel costs for researchers working on the project.

• Eligible forms of employment contracts are full-time and part-time 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.
• All persons employed through a WWTF-funded project should receive a fair employment contract with at least a minimum wage according to the “Kollektivvertrag” (collective agreement) of the Austrian Universities / non-university research institutions. For staff employed at institutions without a collective agreement, the minimum wage should adhere to the standards of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF salary scheme).
• 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. 
• Due to projected inflation rates, the budget calculation for salaries in the Funding Portal automatically includes an increase of 3.5% p.a. for the duration of the project (Full proposal budget only).
• Applications for personnel costs must be in one of the following categories:

• Senior Personnel: highly qualified scientists, 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)
• 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.

Non-personnel costs

Running costs for basic infrastructure (telephone costs, rents) as well as costs for the acquisition of infrastructure and basic equipment are not eligible for funding, as these should be covered by the category “overhead costs”. Non-personnel should not exceed 25% of the overall budget.

• Equipment:  Smaller equipment can be purchased with funds from the grant. This includes devices up to € 1,500 each, as well as software specific to the projects. General office software is not eligible for funding. Funding by WWTF in project calls is not intended to cover investment in general and larger infrastructure. However, pro rata depreciation rates over the project duration for equipment necessary to the project may be funded.
• Consumables: Costs for project-related expenses like consumables are permitted. WWTF does not fund consumables that are general and not project-specific (e.g., paper, printer toner).
• Travel costs: Costs for travel and accommodation for scientific meetings and conferences, field work, expeditions may be funded. Please also consider the regulations of your organization for travel costs.
• Publication costs: Costs incurred for publication activities, e.g., printing costs, article processing charges (for open science), etc. are allowed. This also includes costs for archiving research data in open repositories. Please also consider the Open Science Policy.
• Workshop/conferences: Costs for organizing events, workshops, and conferences as well as for hosting invited speakers are eligible.
• Other costs: Third-party costs, namely, for external collaboration, consulting, studies, and software development may be funded to a limited extent. In general, individuals should be predominantly funded through employment contracts at the participating institutions and not through other types of employment. Under special conditions, costs for childcare and/or career coaching for female WWTF-funded personnel may be requested to a small degree.

Indirect costs (overheads)

 WWTF pays a maximum of 20% overhead. Overhead is calculated as a percentage of the direct costs of the project (i.e., personnel + non-personnel costs). Please note that WWTF offers the maximum 20% overhead lump sum to compensate for all administration costs. This means that flat fees for payroll or project accounting are not eligible. The total funding volume is calculated as direct plus indirect costs.

Applicants are required to comply with the overhead regulations of the involved institutions.

ICT25 / 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/

ICT25 / Guidelines for good scientific practice and ethics

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.

Project proposals may include ethical aspects that require the approval from an ethics committee/institutional review board.

• If the approval from the ethics committee/institutional review board is required for the planned project this must be clearly stated at the short proposal stage. The approval (“Votum”) must be submitted online with the full proposal.
• Should it not be possible to obtain a final ethical approval before the full proposal deadline due to reasons which are beyond the control of the applicant, the applicant must explain the reasons in the application and send the preliminary approval to the responsible call manager before the jury meeting.
• 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 online 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.

ICT25 / Open Science

WWTF requires compliance with its Open Science Policy. This document outlines the rights, roles and responsibilities of WWTF, researchers, and research organizations.

ICT25 / 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. 

For your information, WWTF does not allow the use of genAI in the evaluation process.

ICT25 / Selection and decision process

Applications must be submitted via the online Funding Portal in the specified timeframes. Submissions after the deadline will not be considered.

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

• Depending on the call (size, scope etc) the jury is comprised of 6-12 outstanding international experts who have no current affiliation to an Austrian institution.
• 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. For details, see section on evaluation below.
• The names of jury members will be published on the WWTF website after the WWTF Board of Directors finalize the formal funding decision.   
• 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

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:

• All required signatures from the appropriate persons are uploaded.
• All projects will be checked for plagiarism with software.
• Submission of the same or highly similar research 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.

Evaluation of short proposals

• Each proposal is independently assessed by at least two jury members based on the evaluation criteria.
• The jury decides in a meeting (on-site or online) if a short proposal should be invited to the full proposal stage. This usually takes place 1-2 months after the short proposal submission deadline. 
• All applicants will be promptly informed about the decision. Unsuccessful applicants will be provided with a short jury statement explaining the decision. Successful applicants will be informed that they are invited to submit a full-length proposal.

Evaluation of full proposals

• All duly submitted full proposals are checked again for formal aspects. Proposals which do not meet the formal requirements will be rejected at this stage.
• The information provided in the full proposal must be consistent with the short proposal and extend it by providing more information and details. Major deviations to the short proposal must be justified explicitly. If major deviations cannot be satisfactorily explained, it may be rejected by the jury at this stage. 

Eligible full proposals will undergo a review process. 

• WWTF will obtain a minimum of two (usually 3-4) written reviews for each proposal.
• Reviewers are international experts in the topic(s) of the proposals. WWTF does not contact reviewers based in Austria. WWTF aims for diversity in the cohort of reviewers for a call (gender, age, countries).
• All reviewers will be checked by the WWTF office for potential conflicts of interests with the applicants. As a rule, reviewers should not have close professional relations to any of the applicants in the project team. Practically, this excludes reviewers that have published with the applicants within the last five years or have had a collaboration in a research project in this timeframe. In case of very close cooperation with the applicant(s) over a longer period of time, the reviewer will also be excluded. Joint publications in an edited volumes/proceeding, “community papers” with more than 30 authors or common attendances in workshops and conferences do not qualify as conflict of interest. Additionally, reviewers are asked to disclose any potential conflict of interest.
• Reviewers will be asked to provide their assessment of the proposal through a standardised online questionnaire.
• The expert reviewers remain anonymous to the applicants.
• Jury members nominate reviewers. In addition, in the full proposal submissions, applicants are asked to suggest 5 experts whom they deem qualified to review the proposal. WWTF office will check the reviewers for potential conflict of interests. WWTF office is free to choose/not to choose any of the suggested experts.
• Applicants may also exclude up to 3 persons without stating any reasons. Reviewers on the negative list will not be contacted. 

Applicants will have the opportunity to respond in writing to the external reviews.

• The purpose of the applicant response step is to allow correction of any factual errors or misunderstandings, or to respond directly to questions raised in the external reviews.
• The length of the applicant response will be limited to the equivalent of one A4 page of text. The response must be entered as text in the Funding Portal. Pictures, graphs, or other documents cannot be inserted or attached.
• Applicants will be given 7 calendar days to view and respond to the peer reviews. While the exact dates for the applicant response step are not fixed, an indicative time period is provided.
• All core team members will receive an email notification when the applicant response step is open in the Funding Portal.
• Submission of a response to reviews is not compulsory. However, the jury panel will be informed that all teams were provided with the opportunity to respond to reviews.
• More details about the scope and process of the applicant response phase will be available to core teams invited to submit a full proposal.

Full Proposal Jury meeting

The jury will convene about 3-4 months after the submission deadline of the full proposals to select full proposals to recommend for funding. The jury may be extended by additional members in case supplementary expertise is needed to cover the topics of the proposals. At least two jury members are assigned to each proposal and act as rapporteurs for the proposals.

• The basis for the evaluation by the jury are the full proposals, the external reviews, and the applicant’s response to reviews. The arguments brought forward in the review reports will be carefully balanced with the jury’s own expertise.
• The result is a recommendation for each project: “to be funded” or “not to be funded”.

Formal funding decision

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

• Applicants will be promptly informed about the decision.
• The decision may include budget cuts as well as additional conditions and recommendations.
• Unsuccessful applicants will receive a short statement by the jury explaining the main reasons why the project was not selected for funding.

ICT25 / Funding contract

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

• Projects should start within 2 months – and no later than 4 months – after the formal funding decision by the WWTF Board of Directors. To facilitate a timely project start, WWTF will provide rapid assistance with the contracting process.
• The PI&C will be provided with the necessary documents for the contracts.

• The formal funding contract will be signed between WWTF and the host institution of the PI&C. In Joint Projects, the host institution of the co-PI in Lower Austria is an additional contract partner.

• 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.

ICT25 / Community Building

WWTF is highly committed to supporting the growing ICT community in Vienna. To this end, several community building activities will be offered throughout the funding cycle. Funded teams will be invited to participate in these activities to foster collaborations between and beyond WWTF funded projects. 

ICT25 / 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.