ICT25 / Submission Guideline / Short Proposal

This section is a guide to using WWTF’s Funding Portal. It is intended for applicants who wish to submit a short proposal in the ICT25 Call.

ICT25 / Register & Login

Register 

If you are a PI, please complete your profile as early as possible because your profile information is used in the other parts of the proposals (e.g., your institution).

Login

ICT25 / Creating a new proposal

  1. Go to “Calls” in the top menu
  2. Select the ICT Call 2025
  3. Click “Participate now” à a new proposal will be created. You can create multiple proposals. However, please note that each researcher may participate as PI&C or co-PI in a maximum of two proposals.
  4. Once created, you will find all your proposals under “My Proposals & Roles” in the top menu. You can delete proposals at any time. Proposals that are not submitted will be deleted automatically after the submission deadline.

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.

ICT25 / Information about PIs

In the short 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. Further researchers beyond the core team may also take part in the project, either funded by WWTF or with in-kind contribution. Information about these further researchers will be required in the full 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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

ICT25 / CV and List of Publications

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

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

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:

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

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

ICT25 / Overview of chapters

The proposal is comprised of six chapters, each under a separated tab:

A chapter with a red alert symbol indicates that it is incomplete. Within the marked chapter, click on the red symbol(s) beside individual sections to highlight the fields requiring attention.  A green checkmark symbol indicates that the information in the chapter is complete.

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. 

ICT25 / Details of chapters

Please note that the inclusion of figures and tables is not possible in the short proposal. These elements can be included in the full proposal phase.

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:

Personnel and Institutions

This chapter contains information about the main parties in the project. Ideally, information about the PI&C and co-PIs have already been entered. However, this information can be changed at any time.

Project

This chapter contains the bulk of the scientific information regarding the project. 

Please note that the character limit includes spaces

Abstract (max. 1,500 characters)

Please provide an overall project summary. Clearly state the research question and the aims of the team. Describe the most innovative aspects of your proposal, and its potential relevance and impact. 


Proposal

Introduction, background and state of the art (max. 2,500 characters)
What is the topic and broad background of this research project? What is the state of the art in this field? 

Research questions, objectives, and/or hypotheses (max. 2,000 characters)

What are the fundamental research questions/hypotheses that the project seeks to address? What are the goals the project seeks to achieve? 

Expected results, novelty and relevance (max. 2,000 characters)

What kind of advancements are expected to be gained from the research project? Which aspects of the proposed project are especially innovative? Describe the scientific relevance and the timeliness of the research project. 

Methods and feasibility (max. 2,000 characters)

Specify the methodology intended to be used in order to answer the research question(s) and objective(s). Describe the basic working principles and concepts, and why the chosen approach/specific mix of approaches is the most suitable for the research question. Include a short assessment on the feasibility of the approach.

Role of team members and collaborative aspects (max. 1,500 characters)

Which collaborative elements are essential for the project to succeed; what makes the team more than the sum of its individual contributions? A team member’s contribution should be integrated into the overall plan and should not appear merely as a resource.

Potential for interdisciplinarity, application to other research fields and potential impact (max. 1,500 characters)

How will the scientific advancements gained through this project benefit other research fields that are beyond the immediate scope of the project? Describe how the knowledge, methods or technology developed in this project could further understanding or contribute to applications in other research disciplines. Also, provide a brief statement how the results from this research project could contribute towards solving a recognised problem that affects broader society or the economy.

Please note that potential sex/gender aspects of the research topic and gender balance in the research team should be considered throughout the application (see this section). These should be briefly described where appropriate in the relevant sections. Further details will be required in the full proposal phase.


Ethical considerations (max. 800 characters)

Indicate if there is an ethical approval necessary as a formal requirement to conduct your research project in your respective institution. Please reach out to your institutional ethics boards prior to submitting your proposal. If an ethics votum is necessary, this must be sent to WWTF prior to our final jury meeting.

Outline the potential ethical aspects of your proposed project. These may include, but are not restricted to human participants, human tissue, human embryonic tissue, personal data, animals, environmental safety, and artificial intelligence. Please indicate if ethical approval is required for the project. If no ethical aspects are identified, please also provide a brief explanation (Further details, please see this section).

Use of generative AI (max. 800 characters)

Please describe if and how GenAI has been used in developing your research proposal. Please see further details can be found here.

References

In this chapter, up to 15 key references relevant for the project can be added. Please use a continuous reference style.

Please note that these references should focus on the content of the proposal and is not your personal publication list. The latter should be included in the CVs of the core team members. 

Budget

The short proposal requires only an overview budget for each participating institution. All institutions added in the chapter “Personnel and Institutions” will be automatically listed in the budget table.

The system will automatically calculate sums and ratios of the budget. 

Explanation of Cost Planning (max. 750 characters) 

Outline details about the planned resource allocation with the dedicated budget.

In the case of an invitation to submit a full proposal, there should not be significant changes in the requested budget compared to the short proposal. Exceptions are permitted but require justification.

ICT25 / 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”).

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

ICT25 / Proposal submission

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.

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.

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