LS25 Precision Medicine / Full Proposal / Submission Guideline

• LS25 / Full Proposal / Key information
• LS25 / Full Proposal / Accessing your proposal
• LS25 / Full Proposal / Update information about PIs
• LS25 / Full Proposal / Overview of chapters
• LS25 / Full Proposal / Details of chapters
• LS25 / Full Proposal / Signatures
• LS25 / Full Proposal / Proposal submission
• LS25 / Full Proposal / Applicant Response Phase

LS25 / Full Proposal / Key information

Submission of full proposals

• All proposals must be submitted electronically via the WWTF’s Funding Portal. The Funding Portal will automatically save your entries and changes. You can pause data entry at any time. All information will be available again upon your next login.
• All core team members (i.e., coordinating PI and co-PIs) can contribute to and edit the proposal before its submission. However, only one person can edit the proposal in the Funding Portal at any time.

Please note that only the coordinating PI (PI&C) can submit the proposal.

• All sections of the proposal must be written in English.
• The length of the proposal is determined by character counts (including spaces) and page limits in case of uploads in the Funding Portal.
• The full proposal will be assessed by experts in the specific topics of the proposal. These experts will provide written assessments for the jury panel, whose collective expertise covers a range of topics in this call. 

Please write the full proposal in a way that allows assessment by both expert reviewers and a broad high-level jury panel.

Overview of the full proposal phase

• Deadline for submission of full proposals: October 7, 2025, 2pm CET
• Assessment of full proposals through external written reviews
• Applicant response phase: between February 9-20, 2026 (exact dates TBD)
• Meeting of jury panel to select projects for funding: late February 2026
• Funding decision of WWTF's Board of Directors: March 2026

LS25 / Full Proposal / Accessing your proposal

1. Go to https://fundingportal.wwtf.at/
2. Login with your credentials
3. You will see an overview of your proposal(s) and role(s) under the menu “My Proposals & Roles"

• A Click on “Short Proposal” to download a PDF of your submitted short proposal
• B Click on the project title to edit the full proposal
• C Click on your role to edit your specific role in this proposal

LS25 / Full Proposal / Update information about PIs

Contact details, CV, and information about your role in the project have been automatically transferred from the short proposal to the full proposal. Please ensure the information in the tab "My Profile" and "My Roles" is up-to-date. Only update information if required.

Step 1: Update your profile information if required

Upon login, go to “My Profile” in the top menu to update your profile. To update your CV, delete the previous document and upload a new CV as PDF. The requirements regarding the CV in the full proposal are the same as those in the short proposal . Please review these requirements here.

Step 2: Update information about your specific role in the proposal if relevant

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. Should you have uploaded a new CV in "My Profile", it will now be transferred to the full proposal.

  • The requirements regarding the description of your specific role in the full proposal are the same as those in the short proposal. Please review these requirements here.

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

LS25 / Full Proposal / Overview of chapters

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

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

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. 

LS25 / Full Proposal / Details of chapters

Basic Information

The name, acronym, nominated scientific disciplines, project duration and type of project (regular WWTF Project or Joint Project) can no longer be changed.

• Keywords: These will help the WWTF identify appropriate reviewers for your proposal. Keywords may still be edited or added.
• 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 include a maximum of two reviewers suggested by the applicants. The other reviewers are suggested by the jury and/or WWTF office to avoid bias.
• Excluded peer reviewers: Applicants may, without stating any reasons, exclude up to three individuals from reviewing their proposal. 

The names of the peer reviewers suggested and excluded by the applicants will be shared with the jury panel but not disclosed to potential reviewers themselves. Each proposal is reviewed by no less than three reviewers.

Personnel and Institutions

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., a co-PI moving to an institution abroad or leaving the academic field).

Should well-justified changes in the core team be necessary, please contact WWTF. WWTF reserves the right to exclude projects from further evaluation in cases in which 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. Should a project be funded, the addition of further collaborations will be possible.

Project

This is the main section of the proposal that requires elaboration of the project’s scientific content.

Please note that the character limit includes spaces.

Lay summary (max. 1,000 characters)

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. 

Scientific abstract (max. 2,000 characters) 

Please provide a concise scientific abstract of the project. This will be used in approaching reviewers. The abstract has been taken automatically from the short proposal, but may be edited for the full proposal.

Work program (max. 15 pages) 

Please use the template provided for download in the WWTF Funding Portal.

The bold headings are mandatory. Each subheading must be addressed explicitly, in a format and order of the applicants’ choosing. 
Use a common font type (such as Arial, Source Sans Pro) and font size 11pt. Line spacing should be between 1.3 and 1.5. Do not add any headers or footers (such as page numbers, proposal number, title of proposal), as this information will be added automatically to the file upon upload. Figures, tables, etc. may be included. A final PDF of a maximum of 15 pages, including figures and references, is permitted. Applicants should allocate this space as they see fit.

1. Introduction and background

a.    Subject of the research
b.    State of the art and key clinical/scientific challenges 

2. Hypotheses and objectives

a.    Research questions and/or hypotheses 
b.    Objectives of the project

3. Innovativeness and relevance

a.    Innovativeness of the proposed research
b.    Contribution and relevance to the field of precision medicine

4. Research plan and methods

a.    Preliminary data relevant to the project (if available)
b.    Description of the patient cohort (including sample numbers, stage of sample collection/patient recruitment, power calculations, etc.)
c.    Sex and gender aspects of research
d.    Research plan, including milestones and deliverables
e.    Research and analysis methods (including necessary expertise within project team)
f.    Interdisciplinary collaborative aspects

5. Project management and feasibility

a.    Feasibility, risk management and mitigation strategies
b.    Data management (including protocols, data sharing, dissemination, etc.)

6.    Key references 

• • Please include the DOI for each reference

Ethical considerations (max. 800 characters)

If available, the ethical approval (final or preliminary) or confirmation of submission of an ethical approval should be submitted. If an ethical approval for the proposed work has yet not been granted, 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.

Data management (max. 800 characters)

In case of funding, a data management plan must be stepwise developed over the runtime of the project. At the full proposal stage, we encourage applicants to consider and briefly address the following points as appropriate:

• What kind of accompanying metadata and documentation will help others identify, discover, reuse and/reproduce the research data?
• How will data for sharing and preservation be selected?
• When will data be shared?
• In which repository 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?
  

Use of generative AI (max. 500 characters)

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

Budget

Please note the following guidelines for the budget:

• Maximum 15% difference between the budgets of the short and full proposals is permitted.
• Non-personnel costs should not exceed 40% of the total requested budget.

Personnel costs

• Core team members of the short proposal are automatically listed in the respective table.
• 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.
• 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% annual gross costs in the first year of the project (employer and employee costs = gross costs / “Brutto-Brutto-Jahresgehalt”). Please note that PhD positions are often calcuated on a 75% employment basis. The total funding requested for each person will be automatically calculated.
• 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 September 2026.) Please contact your institutional research support services in this matter.

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 essential for the project may only be requested on a pro rata basis that also takes into consideration the proportion of time that the equipment will be used for this project.
• 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

• The share of the budget allocated to the regions “Vienna” and “Other” will automatically be shown for WWTF projects, and to the regions “Vienna”, “Lower Austria” and “Other” for Joint Projects.
• For regular WWTF projects, at least 80% of the requested funding must be allocated to the region “Vienna”. Up to 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 at least 51%. The share of the budget allocated to the region “Lower Austria” may range from 21% to 49%. Up to 20% may be allocated to any further partner(s) located in other regions (“Other”).

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.

Explanation of Cost Planning (max. 1,500 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.
• Double submissions 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.
• WWTF does not allow double funding. If your proposal is selected for funding by both WWTF and another funding organisation, we will ask you to decide which funding you will accept.
  

LS25 / Full Proposal / Signatures

Submission of the full proposal requires the signatures of the authorized persons at all participating institutions ("Authorizations"). This includes the host institutions of the core team members, as well as all further partner institutions. 

• Please consult your institutional research services regarding the person mandated to sign the proposals and plan sufficient time to obtain their signatures.
• Make sure that all participating institutions have been added in the “Personnel and Institutions” section before downloading the signatures sheet.
• Enter the name of each authorized person in the online form. This information will be included in the PDF to be signed.

For authorizations from the Medical University of Vienna, please delete the name of the Vice Rector. Instead, for each core team member and further partner institution at the Medical University of Vienna, please insert the name and position of the head of their department/institute. 

• 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
  • The signed signature pages can only be accessed via a link in the final project PDF.

Please ensure signatures are dated. Undated signatures and re-use of signatures from the short proposal will not be accepted.

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

LS25 / Full Proposal / 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. Please check your emails after clicking the submit button.

If you do not receive a confirmation email, please get in touch with the Call Managers.

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.

LS25 / Full Proposal / Applicant Response Phase

Applicant Response Phase (9th - 20th of February 2026, 2pm (CET))

The purpose of the applicant response step is to allow the core team to correct any factual errors or conceptual misunderstandings in the external peer reviews. The applicants should respond directly to reviewer comments in a constructive manner.

Scope of applicant response

As much as possible, the applicant response should refer to parts of the full proposal where the reviewer’s concerns are already addressed. Only where necessary and appropriate, should references to peer-reviewed publications in order to correct any factual inaccuracies in the reviews be provided. In addition to providing the DOI, applicants should clearly specify the section (figure, data, text) of the publication that supports their response. Pictures, graphs, or other documents themselves cannot be inserted or attached.

• The applicant response must not be regarded as an opportunity to extend the full proposal. Elaboration upon aspects of the full proposal with more detail is not permitted.
• New information, including new research results and methods, should not be provided.
• Applicant responses should not include references to any new awards, appointments, or publications that may have occurred since the submission of the full proposal.
• Response should be clearly presented, objective and concise. The limit of 3,000 characters (with spaces) applies for all teams. Thus, only include information that clearly addresses the points of the reviewer.

Both the scientific workplan and CVs are assessed as at the time of the full proposal submission, and therefore no updates should be provided. Such additional information will not be considered by the jury members.

Process for applicants

• All steps of the applicant response phase will proceed over the WWTF Funding Portal.
• Applicants will be given 7 calendar days to respond to the peer reviews (22nd - 29th of August 2025, 2pm (CET)).
• All core team members will receive an email notification from the Funding Portal when the applicant response phase is open. Core team members are therefore strongly advised to regularly check their provided email address during the indicative time period.
• All core team members will have access to the anonymized reviews for their proposal and have the opportunity to edit the response.

Only the PI&C can submit the final applicant response.

What will happen to the applicant response?

• The applicants' response will be provided to the panel after the panel has received all external reviews and prior to the panel meeting to determine funding.
• Applicants' responses will not be viewed by the external reviewers.
• The jury panel will be briefed about the scope of permitted responses and informed to ignore responses that fail to observe these guidelines. Panel members will consider how well applicants have addressed any concerns raised by the reviewers and will consider additional valid evidence provided within the response.
  
• Please note that, depending on its content and quality, the applicant response can potentially have positive and/or negative effects on the evaluation of the proposal by the jury panel. 

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.