LS25 Precision Medicine / Full Proposal / Submission Guideline

This section is a guide to using WWTF’s Funding Portal. It is intended for applicants who have been invited to submit a full proposal in the Life Sciences 2025 Call - Precision Medicine.

LS25 / Full Proposal / Key information

Submission of full proposals

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

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

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"

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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.

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:

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.

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 

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:

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:

Personnel costs

Non-personnel costs

Budget per region

Cost overview

Explanation of Cost Planning (max. 1,500 characters) 

Disclosure of other applications for funding (max. 750 characters) 

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

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. 

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.

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

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

What will happen to the applicant response?

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.