Life Sciences Call 2025 - Precision Medicine

• LS25 Precision Medicine / Key Facts
• LS25 Precision Medicine / Call Specifications
• LS25 / Scope of the call
• LS25 / Structure of the Call
• LS25 / Submission
• LS25 / Eligibility and roles of applicants
• LS25 / Joint Projects with partners in Lower Austria
• LS25 / Structure of the proposal
• LS25 / Evaluation criteria
• LS25 / Eligible costs
• LS25 / Gender aspects in the application phase
• LS25 / Guidelines for good scientific practice and ethics
• LS25 / Open Science
• LS25 / Use of generative AI in the application process
• LS25 / Selection and decision process
• LS25 / Funding contract
• LS25 / Monitoring and reporting
• LS25 / Community Building
• LS25 Precision Medicine / Submission Guideline / Short Proposal
• LS25 / Register & Login
• LS25 / Creating a new proposal
• LS25 / Information about PIs
• LS25 / CV and List of Publications
• LS25 / Overview of chapters
• LS25 / Details of chapters
• LS25 / Signatures
• LS25 / Proposal submission
• LS25 Precision Medicine / Important documents
• LS25 Precision Medicine / Contacts

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.

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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?

• Core research team of up to three principal investigators (PIs)
• The coordinating PI (PI&C) must be based at a university or research institute in Vienna
• Co-PIs may be based outside of Vienna (funding limited to 20% of total budget)
• Co-PIs from Lower Austria may apply for up to 49% of the overall budget (Joint Project) 

Project Duration

24-48 months

Funding

• Call budget: € 7.5 million
• Project budget: € 500,000 to € 1 million (Joint Projects up to € 1.1 million) 
• Personnel and non-personnel costs may be claimed
• Maximum 40% non-personnel costs
• Up to 20% overhead costs 

Timeline

• Short Proposal deadline: May 6, 2025, 2pm CET 
• Full Proposal deadline: October 7, 2025, 2pm CET
• Applicant response phase: between February 9-20, 2026(exact dates TBD)
• Expected funding decision: March 2026 

• Project start: latest September 2026 

Process

• Two-stage selection process
• International jury
• International peer review
• Application via WWTF Funding Portal 

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:

• Projects 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 mechanisms.
• Research teams should demonstrate interdisciplinarity across clinical, biological, data analysis and/or engineering expertise.
• Consideration of the role of sex and gender in the development and treatment of diseases is essential.
  

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.

• Projects may aim to develop novel targeted therapies based upon understanding of disease pathogenesis and patient heterogeneity.
• Projects may involve the development of novel preclinical models based on patient cohort data to improve understanding of the pathogenesis and/or treatment outcome of a human disease.
• Projects may focus on understanding disease susceptibility in heterogeneous populations and seek to contribute to the development of targeted preventive interventions.
• New patient datasets may be generated or assembled as part of the project, or projects may draw on existing datasets. Should new datasets be generated, demonstration of access to well-characterised cohorts and feasibility of attaining the required ethical approvals in a timely manner will be required. Please see the requirements in this call regarding ethical approvals.
  

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

• Public health studies that do not contribute to mechanistic understanding of a disease or therapeutic treatment.
• Basic biomedical research and technology development in the absence of specific clinical rationale and implications.
• Clinical trials of medicinal products.
  

LS25 / Structure of the Call

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

• Short proposals: Applicants provide a short description of the project’s background, objectives and methodology, along with a budget overview.

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

• Full proposals: Proposals selected by the jury are invited to submit an extended proposal that includes a detailed project budget. Applicants will have the opportunity to respond in writing to the external reviews of the full proposal.

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 / Submission

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

• All core team members, i.e., coordinating PI (PI&C) and co-PIs, may access and edit the proposal. Only the PI&C can submit the proposal.
• The structure of the proposal and steps for completing the application in the WWTF Funding Portal are described in more detail in the Submission Guideline, which will be made available in March 2025.
• Signatures of the authorized signatory at participating institutions (“authorizations”) are required in the application process (only for institutions of core team members in the short proposal phase, also for all partner institutions in the full proposal phase). Please contact your institution’s research service in advance and inform yourself about your institute’s internal processes and timelines.
• Applications must be written in English.
  

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. 

• Core team members may share equal management and scientific roles in the project.
• The core team must have an excellent scientific track record that demonstrates the ability to conduct the proposed research project.
• WWTF especially encourages young and female scientists to apply as PI.
• Each core team member must submit a CV, which will form part of the evaluation.
• A researcher may appear as a core team member (i.e., PI&C, co-PI) in a maximum of two proposals in this call. In case of three or more proposals with the same PI, WWTF will accept the first two proposals submitted. Involvement in other past / ongoing / granted WWTF projects does not impact upon eligibility to apply in this call.

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

• For legal and administrative reasons (funding contract, reporting), WWTF requires a PI&C to be named. The PI&C will be the contact person for WWTF regarding all aspects of the project.
• The PI&C must have an affiliation at a Viennese research institution, which will serve as a legal contract partner. This also applies to researchers moving to Vienna, who must have a Viennese affiliation in case of funding.
• The PI&C should be an expert in an area relevant to the topic of the proposal. He/she must have an excellent scientific track record and a proven capability to manage projects.

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

• WWTF recognizes that co-PIs may have equally significant scientific roles in the project. However, the PI&C will be regarded as the main contact person for the project.
• Co-PIs may be based in Vienna, Lower Austria or elsewhere (in Austria or internationally) in fulfilment of the requirements of regular WWTF projects or Joint Projects (see below). 

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

• Non-academic collaboration partners (e.g., NGOs) may be part of the research team. How-ever, the core team members and majority of additional team members in the proposal should have an academic background.

• Industry partners are not eligible for funding, but may partake with in-kind or financial contribution.

Research partners outside Vienna:

• For regular WWTF projects, project partners outside of Vienna may receive up to 20% (i.e., <20%) the total requested funding.
• This call operates under the “Joint Projects” agreement with the Province of Lower Austria. 

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. 

• To incentivize the cooperation, the total maximum funding amount for a JP consortium is € 1.1 million (i.e., an additional € 100,000 compared to the maximum for a regular WWTF project).
• The PI&C must be affiliated to a research institution in Vienna.
•  At least one co-PI must be affiliated to a research institution in Lower Austria.
• The share of the overall funding allocated to research institutions in Lower Austria must be >20% and <50%. In case that the Lower Austrian share is ≤20%, the project is considered as a regular WWTF project and is not eligible for the higher maximum funding amount.
• The Lower Austrian share is financed by the Province of Lower Austria. Hence, the Lower Austrian project partner must comply with the Lower Austrian Culture Promotion Act 1996 and the directives issued on the basis thereof. Further details will be provided in the funding contract.
• Partners outside Vienna or Lower Austria are also possible and may request up to 20% (i.e., <20%) of the total budget. However, the share of the budget allocated to partner(s) in Vienna must be at least 50% (i.e., ≥50%). 
• Regional branches of Viennese Institutions (e.g., BOKU, VetMed, AIT) located in Lower Austria are considered as Vienna-based in the context of WWTF funding activities.

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

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 / Evaluation criteria

The following criteria are used in the evaluation.

• Scope: Is the project within the scope of the call?

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: 

• Scientific innovation of the proposed research project: What is the scientific novelty and transformative potential of the proposed approach? Does the proposed research work meet the highest relevant international standards?
• Relevance and impact: How does the proposed work address unmet clinical needs? To what extent does the project have potential to advance prevention, diagnosis or treatment for patients? What are the mid- to long-term academic and clinical impacts of the advancements expected from the project? 
• Scientific excellence and academic potential of the applicant(s): Do the applicants demonstrate the expertise and potential to conduct the proposed research? Please note that scientific track record is measured according to academic age.

Further criteria:

• Feasibility: Are the timeframe and budget adequate for carrying out the project? Are the proposed resources suitable for achieving the goals? Overall, how likely is the project to contribute to advances in precision medicine?
• Team composition and interdisciplinary collaboration: Teams should include an appropriate mix of expertise, bringing together researchers from complementary scientific disciplines if required. A clear description of the roles of the individual partners and a clear project management plan must be presented.
• Data management: How will research data be managed and shared? Has the sustainability and impact of new resources been considered? Please also consider WWTF’s Open Science Policy.
• Consideration of gender aspects: The relevance of potential sex-specific and gender-related aspects of the proposed projects should be considered and explained throughout the proposal. Please consider WWTF's guidelines regarding sex and gender in research.

Other aspects:

• Career breaks such as for parental leave, care duties and longer illnesses will be taken into account in the evaluation of the proposals. Please indicate the time periods in the applicants' CV to allow them to be considered.  

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 / 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.

• Eligible forms of employment contracts are full-time and part-time contracts as well as marginal employments (“Arbeitsvertrag”). Contracts for services (“Werkvertrag”) are only permitted if the nature of the work means that it cannot be performed through employment contracts.
• All persons employed through a WWTF-funded project should receive a fair employment contract with at least a minimum wage according to the “Kollektivvertrag” (collective agreement) of the Austrian Universities / non-university research institutions. For staff employed at institutions without a collective agreement, the minimum wage should adhere to the standards of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF salary scheme).
• Salaries higher than those stipulated in the collective agreement are possible, subject to the agreement from the host institution and justification based on qualifications of the researcher. 
• Due to projected inflation rates, the budget calculation for salaries in the Funding Portal automatically includes an increase of 3.5% p.a. for the duration of the project (Full proposal budget only).
• Applications for personnel costs must be in one of the following categories:
  • Senior Personnel: highly qualified scientists, usually permanently employed
  • Post Doc: or equivalent qualification, including Senior Postdocs
  • PhD Student: or equivalent qualification level
  • Diploma Student: Bachelor or Master students
  • Office/Technician: administrative or technicians (proportional funding only)

• Personnel costs cannot be claimed for permanent senior staff who are already fully financed by the institution. Exceptions apply in cases where senior staff must acquire third party funding for co-financing their own position (e.g., non-university research institutions and Universities of Applied Sciences). In these cases, permanently employed senior staff may claim up to 20% of their annual salary from WWTF.

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:

• Equipment:  Smaller equipment can be purchased with funds from the grant. This includes devices up to € 1,500 each, as well as software specific to the projects. General office software is not eligible for funding. Funding by WWTF in project calls is not intended to cover investment in general and larger infrastructure. However, pro rata depreciation rates over the project duration for equipment necessary to the project may be funded.
• Consumables: Costs for project-related expenses like consumables are permitted. WWTF does not fund consumables that are general and not project-specific (e.g., paper, printer toner).
• Travel costs: Costs for travel and accommodation for scientific meetings and conferences, field work, expeditions may be funded. Please also consider the regulations of your organization for travel costs.
• Publication costs: Costs incurred for publication activities, e.g., printing costs, article processing charges (for open science), etc. are allowed. This also includes costs for archiving research data in open repositories. Please also consider WWTF's Open Science Policy.
• Workshop/conferences: Costs for organizing events, workshops, and conferences as well as for hosting invited speakers are eligible.Other costs: Third-party costs, namely, for external collaboration, consulting, studies, and software development may be funded to a limited extent. In general, individuals should be predominantly funded through employment contracts at the participating institutions and not through other types of employment. Under special conditions, costs for childcare and/or career coaching for female WWTF-funded personnel may be requested to a small degree.

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 / 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

• Please take into consideration gender balance/equality in the project consortium at all levels, including in decision-making positions, e.g., what steps have been taken to approach / achieve it?
• Do working conditions allow all members of staff to combine work and family life in a satisfactory manner?
• Are there mechanisms in place to manage and monitor gender equality aspects, e.g., workforce statistics?

Gender in research content and in the research ideas phase

• If the research involves humans as research objects, has the relevance of gender to the research topic been analysed?
• If the research does not directly involve humans, have potentially differentiated relations of men and women to the research subject (e.g., relevance, impact of findings) been sufficiently considered?
• Have literature and other sources relating to gender differences in the research field been consulted?

Proposal phase

• Does the methodology ensure that (possible) gender differences will be investigated: that sex/ gender differentiated data will be collected and analysed throughout the research cycle and will be part of the final publication?
• Does the proposal explicitly and comprehensively explain how gender issues will be handled?
• If there are no identifiable gender aspects after a detailed review by the applicants, this must be justified, e.g., by providing reasons to demonstrate that no sex, gender, and other relevant differences have been found.

Research phase

• If there are further aspects of the project in which sex/gender could be a factor (e.g., samples, testing groups), are these gender-balanced?
• Are questionnaires, surveys, focus groups, etc. designed to unravel potentially relevant sex and/or gender differences in your data?
• Is data analysed according to the sex variable? Are other relevant variables analysed with respect to sex?

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Further resources

• Gender in Research Toolkit by Yellow Window: https://www.yellowwindow.com/genderinresearch
• Gendered Innovations, Stanford University: http://genderedinnovations.stanford.edu/methods-sex-and-gender-analysis.html
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research: https://www.cihr-irsc-igh-isfh.ca/

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.

• WWTF is member of the Austrian Agency for Research Integrity (OeAWI) and thus committed to their standards for good scientific practice. Hence, applicants must comply to OeAWI standards 
• In case of suspected scientific misconduct, WWTF will employ the ombudsperson at the applicant’s institution or request OeAWI to investigate the case.
• Based on the outcome of investigations by the ombudsperson or OeAWI, WWTF reserves the right to exclude the applicants and the application from the involved and future calls.

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.

• In the short proposal, applicants provide a brief statement regarding the ethical aspects of the project. Applicants must indicate whether a formal ethical approval is required for the proposed work.
• Upon invitation to submit a full proposal, applicants must provide a more detailed description of the ethical aspects of the proposed work. 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.

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.

• The approval by the ethics committee should be specific for the planned WWTF project. Therefore, the title of the project should be the same as on the approval (minor deviations are possible). If the title of the approved research differs significantly from the proposed project, a statement must be provided (in the Funding Portal), confirming that the approval will cover the planned research.
• If the main applicant for the ethical approval is not a core team member (i.e., PI&C or co-PI) of the WWTF proposal, a clear statement must be included in the proposal, in which a core team member confirms that he/she is authorized to conduct the planned research within this ethical approval.
• If the planned research is covered by an existing approval, the applicants must submit the extension of the approval (“Verlängerung der Gültigkeit des Votums”). The above also applies for extensions.

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

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 / 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 / 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. 

• Depending on the call (size, scope etc) the jury is comprised of 6-12 outstanding international experts who have no current affiliation to an Austrian institution.
• Jury members are selected by WWTF according to their expertise in the call topic. They have no known conflict of interest prior to the submission deadline. For details, see section on evaluation below.
• The names of jury members will be published on the WWTF website after the WWTF Board of Directors finalize the formal funding decision.   

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:

• All required signatures from the appropriate persons are uploaded.
• All projects will be checked for plagiarism with software.
• Submission of the same or highly similar research ideas to other funding organizations, which must be explicitly declared in the full proposal. Application for funding at other organizations is permitted and will not impact the evaluation. In case of funding, applicants will be asked by which organization they wish to be funded, as double funding is not permitted by WWTF.

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

• Each proposal is independently assessed by at least two jury members based on the evaluation criteria.
• The jury decides in a meeting (on-site or online) if a short proposal should be invited to the full proposal stage. This usually takes place 1-2 months after the short proposal submission deadline. 
• All applicants will be promptly informed about the decision. Unsuccessful applicants will be provided with a short jury statement explaining the decision. Successful applicants will be informed that they are invited to submit a full-length proposal.

Evaluation of full proposals

• All duly submitted full proposals are checked again for formal aspects. Proposals which do not meet the formal requirements will be rejected at this stage.
• The information provided in the full proposal must be consistent with the short proposal and extend it by providing more information and details. Major deviations to the short proposal must be justified explicitly. If major deviations cannot be satisfactorily explained, it may be rejected by the jury at this stage. 

Eligible full proposals will undergo a review process. 

• WWTF will obtain a minimum of two (usually 3-4) written reviews for each proposal.
• Reviewers are international experts in the topic(s) of the proposals. WWTF does not contact reviewers based in Austria. WWTF aims for diversity in the cohort of reviewers for a call (gender, age, countries).
• All reviewers will be checked by the WWTF office for potential conflicts of interests with the applicants. As a rule, reviewers should not have close professional relations to any of the applicants in the project team. Practically, this excludes reviewers that have published with the applicants within the last five years or have had a collaboration in a research project in this timeframe. In case of very close cooperation with the applicant(s) over a longer period of time, the reviewer will also be excluded. Joint publications in an edited volumes/proceeding, “community papers” with more than 30 authors or common attendances in workshops and conferences do not qualify as conflict of interest. Additionally, reviewers are asked to disclose any potential conflict of interest.
• Reviewers will be asked to provide their assessment of the proposal through a standardised online questionnaire.
• The expert reviewers remain anonymous to the applicants.
• Jury members nominate reviewers. In addition, in the full proposal submissions, applicants are asked to suggest 5 experts whom they deem qualified to review the proposal. WWTF office will check the reviewers for potential conflict of interests. WWTF office is free to choose/not to choose any of the suggested experts.
• Applicants may also exclude up to 3 persons without stating any reasons. Reviewers on the negative list will not be contacted. 

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

• The purpose of the applicant response step is to allow correction of any factual errors or conceptual misunderstandings in the external reviews.
• The length of the applicant response will be limited to the equivalent of one A4 page of text. The response must be entered as text in the Funding Portal. Pictures, graphs, or other documents cannot be inserted or attached.
• Applicants will be given 7 calendar days to view and respond to the peer reviews. While the exact dates for the applicant response step are not fixed, an indicative time period is provided.
• All core team members will receive an email notification when the applicant response step is open in the Funding Portal.
• 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.
• More details about the scope and process of the applicant response phase will be available to core teams invited to submit a full proposal.

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.

• The basis for the evaluation by the jury are the full proposals, the external reviews, and the applicant’s response to reviews. The arguments brought forward in the review reports will be carefully balanced with the jury’s own expertise.
• The result is a recommendation for each project: “to be funded” or “not to be funded”.

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.

• Applicants will be promptly informed about the decision.
• The decision may include budget cuts as well as additional conditions and recommendations.
• Unsuccessful applicants will receive a short statement by the jury explaining the main reasons why the project was not selected for funding.

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 / Funding contract

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

• WWTF encourages projects to start as soon as possible after the formal funding decision by the WWTF Board of Directors. To facilitate a timely project start, WWTF will directly contact the PI&C shortly after the funding decision to commence the contracting process.
• The formal start of the project may be no later than 6 months after the formal funding decision. Please note that WWTF does not require all team members of the funded project to begin by the project’s start date. However, WWTF expects grantees to nominate a formal starting date for their project that is no later than 6 months after the notification of the funding decision.
• The PI&C will be provided with the necessary documents for the contracts.

• The formal funding contract will be signed between WWTF and the host institution of the PI&C. In Joint Projects, the host institution of the co-PI in Lower Austria is an additional contract partner.

• For universities, this is a project according to §27 of the Universities Act 2002. The institution then authorizes the respective PI to sign for the full scientific and financial responsibility of the project.

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 / 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 / Submission Guideline / Short Proposal

LS25 / Register & Login

All proposals must be submitted electronically via the WWTF’s Funding Portal. 

Registeration

1. Go to https://fundingportal.wwtf.at/
2. Go to “Register” in the top menu
3. Enter your registration data (*indicates mandatory fields)
4. You will receive an email to confirm registration

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

Please note that the person who initially registers must not necessarily be the PI&C of the project. The PI&C and co-PIs can be invited to the proposal at a later time. 

Administrative staff (e.g., institutional grants office, project assistants) can also create a proposal and invite PIs. Only in this case can a proposal be edited by both PIs and administrative staff (i.e., administrative staff cannot be invited to an existing proposal). This allows research support and admin personnel to first check the requirements for submitting a proposal.

Login

1. Go to https://fundingportal.wwtf.at/
2. Login with your credentials

LS25 / Creating a new proposal

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.

1. Go to “Calls” in the top menu
2. Under “Running calls”, select the “Life Sciences 2025 – Precision Medicine” call
3. Click “Create new proposal”.
4. Once created, you will find all your proposals under “My Proposals & Roles” in the top menu. 

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. You can also delete proposals at any time. Proposals that are not submitted will be deleted automatically after the submission deadline.

LS25 / 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.

• • In case you are the PI&C, please click “I am the Principal Investigator”. You can then invite further co-PIs to this proposal.
  • In case you are not the PI&C, you will need to invite them to the proposal. The invited PI will receive an email to accept the invitation. The invited person can login with an existing account or register as a new user. You and the PI&C can then invite further co-PIs to the proposal.

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. 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.

• • Please upload or update your CV based on the template "wwtf_cvtemplate_project.docx".
  • Should you have multiple affiliations, these can be added in your profile. Different affiliations may then be used for different proposals.

Step 3: Complete your “Role”

1. Go to “My Proposal & Roles” in the top menu. Under “My Roles”, click on your role below the title of the proposal.
2. 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.
3. Enter data in the respective fields:

• • • Scientific expertise (key words)
    • Specific competencies for the project (500 characters)
    • Role and responsibilities within the project (500 characters)

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.

1. Select the affiliation with which you want to apply for the proposal. Please note that an authorization signature will be required from this institute for the proposal.
2. Check the box under “Affirmation” to confirm acknowledgement of and compliance with guidelines from WWTF and additional relevant organisations.

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).

LS25 / CV and List of Publications

The CV template provided in the Funding Portal must be used. Please use the following template:"All other calls: wwtf_cvtemplate_project.docx"

• List all items in reverse chronological order.
• For each of the selected publications (max. 10), provide 1-2 sentences outlining the relevance of the publication for the proposal.
• If possible, please also provide a link to a more detailed list of your publications. This may be your institutional website, personal website, an ORCID profile, Google Scholar profile, etc.
• Describe additional qualifications or skills that are relevant for the success of the project. These may extend beyond scientific skills to experience in leadership, supervision, Open Science, etc.

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 (e.g., publications specific to the proposals).

In case you wish to provide two different CVs for two proposal, the following procedure is recommended:

• Under "My Profile", upload the CV for Proposal A
• Go to "My Proposals and Roles"
• In the section "My roles", click on "Principal Investigator and Coordinator" of Proposal A
• In the page that opens, click on the green button "Refresh from Profile"

This imports the CV from your profile to Proposal A, and only to Proposal A.

• Go back to "My Profile" and delete the existing CV.
• Upload the new CV for Proposal B
• Go to "My Proposals and Roles"
• In the section "My roles", click on "Principal Investigator and Coordinator" of Proposal B
• In the page that opens, click on the green button "Refresh from Profile"

Proposal A and B should have now have different CVs. 

LS25 / Overview of chapters

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

• Basic Information
• Personnel and Institutions
• Project
  
• References
• 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 / 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:

• Scientific Disciplines: Fields will be suggested as you type. WWTF uses the ÖFOS classification system of Statistik Austria.
• Joint Project: Please indicate if this proposal is a Joint Project, i.e. includes partners from Lower Austria with a higher share possible from the overall project budget. For details regarding team composition and budget distribution, please see here.

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.

• Co-PIs can be added to the project. Please note the maximum of three PIs in the core team.
• Additional partner institutions beyond those of the core team members can be added under “Further Partner Institutions”. (The institutions of the PI&C and co-PIs are automatically added by the system.) Entering an additional institution provides the option of allocating budget to this institution in the “Budget” chapter. This may be important in case of collaboration with researchers at institutes other than those of the core team members
• A maximum of five different institutions may be involved in the proposal. This includes the institutions of the PI&C and co-PI(s).

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)

Provide an overall summary of the project. Clearly state the research questions and aims of the team. Summarise the most innovative aspects of the research, and its potential impact and contribution.

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Proposal

Introduction, background and state of the art (max. 2,000 characters)
Provide a broad scientific introduction to the topic of the project. Describe the state of the art in this research field. 

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

Specify the research question(s) to be addressed in the context of the state of the art. Outline how the research objectives align with precision medicine approaches. 

Methodology (max. 3,500 characters)

Describe the methods to be used to address the research questions. Provide sufficient information about the innovation, interdisciplinarity, suitability and feasibility of these approaches with respect to the project’s objectives. Specify how the proposed work contributes to, or utilises, patient cohort datasets. 

Scientific impact and contribution (max. 2,500 characters)

Outline the project’s anticipated contribution to precision medicine. Describe how the proposed work will advance the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of a disease. Specify how the project aims to contribute to understanding of disease pathogenesis or treatment-relevant biological mechanisms. Briefly explain how the data, resources and/or technology developed in the project will be managed and shared with the research community.

Interdisciplinary collaboration (max. 1,000 characters)

Describe how the project team brings the necessary interdisciplinary expertise to pursue the proposed research. Outline the plans for collaboration, communication and, if applicable, training across expertise fields. 

Project Schedule / Overview

Upload a 1-page visual representation (e.g., table, Gantt chart, flow chart) to provide an overview of the milestones to be achieved during the project. Indicate the time periods and specify the respective PIs responsible for each milestone. 

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 here). These should be briefly described where appropriate in the relevant sections. Further details will be required in the full proposal phase.

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Ethical considerations (min. 100 characters, max. 800 characters)

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 a formal ethical approval is necessary to conduct your research project in your institution. We advise reaching out to your institutional ethics boards prior to submitting your proposal. More detailed information regarding the ethical aspects of your proposed work and the timelines for ethical approval are required in the full proposal. Should your proposal be selected for funding, the submission of the required ethics votum for carrying out the work is a prerequisite for the funding contract. Further details about ethical requirements are available here.

If no ethical aspects are identified, please also provide an explanation. Note that only providing a cursory statement (e.g., "no ethical aspects") will not be regarded as sufficient consideration of ethical aspects by the applicants.

Use of generative AI (max. 800 characters)

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

1. 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 / “Brutto-Brutto-Jahresgehalt”) 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. 
2. Enter the total non-personnel costs for each institution. For details about eligible costs, please see here.
3. Enter the overhead costs for each institution. Note that 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%). Maximum 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 40% 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 allocation of resource allocation as requested in the 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.

LS25 / 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”). Please consult your institutional research services regarding the person mandated to sign the proposals and plan sufficient time to obtain their signatures.

1. Enter the name of each authorized person in the online form. This information will be included in the PDF to be signed.
2. Download the PDF using the link “You can generate the signature sheet here”.
3. Signatures may be provided in various formats:

• • Scanned or physical signature
  • Electronic signature (e.g., A-Trust, Handysignatur). Please note that electronically signed PDFs cannot be merged into a single document.

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

LS25 / 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 hitting the submit button. If you do not receive a confirmation email, please get in touch with the Call Manager.

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 and deleted shortly after the submission deadline.

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

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