Skip to main content

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:

  • The project title, acronym, nominated scientific disciplines and type of project (regular WWTF Project or Joint Project) can no longer be changed.
  • Please note that you cannot change the duration of the project.
    • In case that it is absolutely necessary to change the duration, please contact the programme manager. Please also note that the duration of the project can still be changed when concluding the contract. WWTF also allows for the cost neutral prolongation of the project once it is running for up to one year without any justification. 
  • Keywords: Keywords may still be edited or added. These will help the WWTF identify appropriate reviewers for your proposal.
  • Suggested peer reviewers: Applicants must suggest five international peers whom they deem qualified to review the proposal. To enable the selection of a balanced set of reviewers, please provide keywords or phrases to describe the reviewers’ fields of expertise. Suggested reviewers must be based outside of Austria and have no conflict of interests with project applicants (complete team and collaborators). Persons with whom the project applicants have worked together (joint publications, research cooperations, etc.) in the last five years will not be considered. Please note that the WWTF will decide if suggested peers will be contacted for reviewing, and WWTF may take different reviewers to those you suggested. As a rule, WWTF will have a maximum of two reviewers that are suggested by you. The other reviewers are suggested by the jury / WWTF office to avoid bias.
  • Excluded peer reviewers: Applicants may, without stating any reasons, exclude up to three individuals from reviewing their proposal. 

Both sections – suggested and excluded reviewers – will not be disclosed to reviewers. The jury will be informed about suggested / excluded reviewers as they need to nominate reviewers by themselves and thus should be aware what reviewers have already been suggested. Each proposal will be reviewed by 4, not less than 3, reviewers. A number of suggestions are necessary because only a fraction of the requested reviewers will agree to review (1/4 – 1/3 of the addressed reviewers). 

Personnel and Institutions

Please note that the addition, removal, or substitution of core team members (PI&C, co-PIs) are not permitted at this stage. WWTF may make exceptions in well-argued circumstances (e.g., co-PI goes to an institution abroad or leaves the academic field). Please contact WWTF in such a case. WWTF reserves to right to exclude projects from the evaluation process in case that PIs can no longer be part of the project team. 

Further partner institutions: Collaborating institutions beyond those of the core team members can be added in this stage. Please note that every person involved in the project must be linked to an institution in order to allow indication of time commitment and salary in the “Budget” section. A signature will be required from the authorizing persons at the core team members’ institutions and at all further partner institutions. A maximum of five different institutions (including those of the core team members) is permitted. Of course, if the project is funded, it may add further collaborations.

Project

This chapter contains the part of the scientific work programme. Fill out the following fields:

Please note that the character limit includes spaces

  • 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 fundrais-ing and public relations purposes. (1,000 characters)
  • Scientific abstract: Please provide a concise scientific abstract of the project. This will be used in approaching reviewers. (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). Upload the completed document as PDF (max. 15 pages including figures)

1.    Introduction and background

a.      Subject of the research

b.      State of the art and key scientific challenges (including own scientific work / past and currently running projects relevant to the proposed project)

2.    Hypotheses and objectives

a.      Research questions and hypotheses

b.      Objectives of the project

3.    Innovativeness and expected results

a.      Novelty of the proposed research

b.      Expected results and relevance to field of ICT

4.    Methodological approach

a.      Research methods

b.      Research plan (including Gantt chart)

c.      Feasibility and risk mitigation 

5.    Mid- to long-term academic and societal impacts 

6.    Project team

a.      Roles and expertise of personnel

b.      Collaborative elements of project, including interdisciplinary aspects

c.      Project management and supervision

7.    Key references

 

Ethical considerations: Indicate if ethical approval of an ethics committee or institutional review board is required for the project. If so, please describe the potential ethical aspects and upload the ethical approval(s) as a single PDF. There is no page limit for the approvals, but the document may not exceed 10 MB. If no ethical aspects are identified, please provide a brief statement. (500 characters)

Data Management: In case of funding, a detailed data management plan must be submitted at the start of the project. At the full proposal stage, we encourage applicants to consider and briefly address the following points as appropriate (500 characters):

What kind of accompanying metadata and documentation will help others identify, discover, reuse, and/or reproduce the research data?

How will data for sharing and preservation be selected?

When will data be shared?

In which repositories will data be archived? How long will data be retained?

What persistent identifiers (e.g., DOI) and usage licenses (e.g., CC BY) will be used?

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 “Call Specifications” document, Section 10). These should be briefly described where appropriate in the relevant sections. Further details will be required in the full proposal phase.

 

 

 

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.

  • Enter the sum for personnel costs at each institution. Please consider that, in the full proposal, you will be required to enter the annual gross costs (employer and employee costs = gross costs) of all individual researchers. If you are unsure about the annual gross costs, please consult your institutional research service. Due to projected inflation rates, the full proposal system will automatically calculate a 3.5% p.a. increase in salaries over the lifetime of the project. 
  • Enter the total non-personnel costs for each institution. For details about eligible costs, please refer to this section in the call specifications.
  • Up to 20% overhead costs may be claimed. Please consult your institutional research service also in this regard.

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

  • Based on the information provided, the share of the budget allocated to the regions “Vienna” and “Other” will be shown for WWTF projects and to the regions “Vienna”, “Lower Austria” and “Other” for Joint Projects.
  • For “regular” WWTF projects, at least 80% (i.e., ≥80%) of the requested funding must be allocated to the region “Vienna”. Up to 20% (i.e., <20%) may be allocated to other partner(s) (including partners in Lower Austria).
  • For Joint Projects, the budget allocated to the region “Vienna” must be ≥50%. The share of the budget allocated to the region “Lower Austria” must be between 20–50% (i.e., >20% and <50%). Up to 20% (i.e., £ 20%) may be allocated to further partner(s) located in other regions (“Other”).
  • 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 25% of the total budget.
  • The system will display an alert if the inserted amounts exceed the permitted funding distribution across regions or cost types.
  • Please note that changing the proposal between “WWTF Project” and “Joint Project” types will reset the budget table due to differing budget distribution requirements.

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.

Back to top