Life Sciences Call 2025 - Precision Medicine

This repository contains all the necessary information for the Life Sciences Call 2025 in Precision Medicine. Please note that WWTF is currently piloting this way of providing call information to applicants. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any suggestions for improvement.

LS25 Precision Medicine / Key Facts

This call is open to research projects that draw upon precision medicine approaches to improve the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of a human disease.


Scope of the Call

Projects in this call should advance understanding of a clinically relevant research question by contributing to, or utilising, insights based on high-quality datasets from well-defined patient cohorts. Anticipated research outcomes should have clear implications for improving the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of a human disease. Projects should contribute to understanding of disease pathogenesis or treatment-relevant biological processes at a mechanistic level. Research teams must demonstrate interdisciplinarity across clinical, biological, data analysis and/or engineering research fields.

Who can apply?
Project Duration

24-48 months

Funding
Timeline
Process

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

This document specifies the processes, criteria, and instrument of the Life Sciences Call 2025 in Precision Medicine. It is intended for applicants wishing to submit a proposal in this project call.

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / Scope of the call

This “Precision Medicine” call is issued within the WWTF Life Sciences Programme. This call is open to research projects that draw upon precision medicine approaches to improve prevention, diagnosis or treatment of a human disease.

Please consider the following key requirements regarding scope of projects in this call:

Within the domain of precision medicine, this call is open to projects with diverse aims and methodologies. The following research directions are considered within the scope of this call. Please note that this is not a comprehensive overview and that all projects must demonstrate fulfilment of the above key requirements.

Please note that the following types of projects are deemed to be outside the scope of this call:

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / Structure of the Call

This call follows a two-stage selection process, consisting of a short proposal and full proposal phase.

Short proposal deadline: May 6th, 2025, 2pm CET 

Full proposal deadline: October 7th, 2025, 2pm CET

Applicant response phase: February 9th – 20th, 2026 (Applicants invited to submit a full proposal will be notified of exact dates in late January)

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / Submission

Applications must be submitted via the WWTF Funding Portal. All application information will be processed via this system.

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / Eligibility and roles of applicants

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. 

One PI must be designated as PI&C (PI and coordinator).

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

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

Research partners outside Vienna:

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / 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. 

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

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / Structure of the proposal

The content and structure of the proposal are defined and specified in the Submission Guideline, which will be made available in March 2025. From March, applicants can also register and create a proposal in the WWTF Funding Portal to find out more details. Applicants invited to submit a full proposal will be provided with an additional Submission Guide-line specifically for the second phase. An overview of the main parts of the short and full proposal is provided below:

Short Proposal

Full proposal

Scientific abstract

Lay summary and scientific abstract

Project description (about 3 pages): outline of the main scientific research idea and approach

Project description (about 12-15 pages): elaboration on the research idea and approach (template is provided)

Project core team: CVs and roles in project (mandatory template is provided)

Project team and further collaboration partners: CVs for all core team members (mandatory template is provided) and roles in project of all team members

Budget overview

Detailed budget

Brief statement regarding ethical aspects

Ethical approval OR detailed description of ethical aspects, including feasibility and timeline for ethical approval

Signatures: from the authorising persons at the institutions of the core team members

Signatures: from the authorising persons at all participating institutions

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.

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / Evaluation criteria

The following criteria are used in the evaluation.

Projects that do not meet the key requirements regarding scope will be rejected by the jury, regardless of scientific quality. 

The key criteria in the evaluation of proposals are scientific excellence of the project and applicants, and the relevance and impact of the proposed research: 

Further criteria:

Other aspects:

Please note that the short proposal will be evaluated by a jury panel, who will be asked to act as generalists when evaluating proposals. In contrast, the full proposal will additionally be evaluated by reviewers with specific expertise in the topics of the proposal. Thus, an appropriate level of scientific detail should be provided at each stage to allow evaluation of the proposal by the respective audience.

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / Eligible costs

All costs that are directly attributable to the project and are regarded as commonly required in the respective scientific fields 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.

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”. The following categories of non-personnel costs are eligible for funding:

Non-personnel costs should not exceed 40% of the overall budget.

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.

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / 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

Gender in research content and in the research ideas phase

Proposal phase

Research phase


Further resources

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / Guidelines for good scientific practice and ethics

Good scientific practice

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.

Ethical aspects

Project proposals may include ethical aspects that require the approval from an ethics committee/institutional review board. Please consider WWTF’s requirements regarding ethical aspects at the different stages of the call and, if applicable, upon the selection of a project for funding.

Please note that the feasibility of obtaining the required ethical approval will be considered during the evaluation of the full proposal. Insufficient demonstration of the ability to obtain ethical approvals within a timely manner may result in the project being excluded by the jury panel.

Please note the following requirements regarding ethical approvals for WWTF-funded projects.

Non-compliance will result in the rejection of the proposal on formal grounds.

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / Open Science

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

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / 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. 

WWTF does not allow the use of genAI in the evaluation process.

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / 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. 

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:

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

Evaluation of full proposals

Eligible full proposals will undergo a review process. 

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

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.

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.

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.

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / Funding contract

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

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / 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.

LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications

LS25 / 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. 

LS25 Precision Medicine / Important documents

The following documents provide information on general guidelines and processes of the WWTF

WWTF Funding Guideline General Guideline for WWTF funding activities
Guideline for Good Scientific
Practice
Guidelines by the Austrian Agency for Research
Integrity
Open Science Policy Open Science Policy of WWTF
Gender Equality Strategy & Plan Gender Equality Strategy & Plan of WWTF
Reporting and Accounting Guideline Specifies reporting and accounting for funded projects

LS25 Precision Medicine / Contacts

Liu_kleiner.jpg

_BEC0017_ PS.jpg

Grace Liu

grace.liu@wwtf.at

Tel.: +43 1 402 31 43 12

Petra Steinkogler

petra.steinkogler@wwtf.at

Tel.: +43 1 402 31 43 14