LS26 Targeted Prevention / Call Specifications

• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Scope of the Call
• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Structure of the Call
• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Roles of Applicants
• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Joint Projects with Partners in Lower Austria
• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Structure of the Proposal
• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Eligible Costs
• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Gender Aspects in the Application Phase
• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Good Scientific Practice and Ethics
• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Open Science
• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Submission
• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Evaluation Criteria
• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Selection and Decision Processes
• LS26 Targeted Prevention / Funded Projects

LS26 Targeted Prevention / Scope of the Call

The aim of this call is to enable innovative and impactful research that has the potential to promote disease prevention and/or increase the number of healthy life years in a defined human population. Projects should seek to improve a specific health condition or the prevention of a specific disease by developing targeted interventions for that population.

Key requirements

Please consider the following key requirements for all projects in this call:

• Projects must identify a specific risk population (e.g., genetic background, demographic/socioeconomic group), define a disease or health condition (e.g., cardiovascular, mental, infectious), and develop an actionable mechanism for intervention (e.g., pharmaceutical, lifestyle, social, policy-based).
• Projects must demonstrate scientific innovation (e.g., new biological mechanism, screening technology, method of engaging target population) and the value of this innovation in addressing an open research gap in prevention research.
• Projects must outline a pathway to implementation that allows for the assessment of the feasibility and impact of the proposed work (e.g., inclusion of consultations with target group, co-development frameworks, health economic considerations)
• Project teams should demonstrate scientific expertise from relevant research disciplines, as well as further expertise (e.g., on lived experience, implementation barriers, etc.) from relevant stakeholders (e.g., patient groups, advocates, practitioners, policymakers). Budget may be allocated for non-academic stakeholders as appropriate.
  

Proposals must fulfil all requirements to be considered within the scope of the call. Should any single requirement not be addressed, the proposal will be deemed out of scope and not further evaluated.

Further considerations

This call takes an inclusive approach to prevention, both with respect to the the health conditions to be addressed and the modalities of intervention. While "targeted prevention" shares thematic elements with biomedical/clinical and public health research, the focus of this call is the development of evidence-based preventative interventions that are innovative and impactful for a particular risk group. In addition to fulfiling all key requirements, please also consider the following:

• This call is open to research focusing on diverse aspects of health and disease, including physical, cognitive, mental, social well-being, etc.
• Research focusing on primary or secondary prevention and covering the entire lifespan is within the scope of this call.
• This call encourages research that considers various intervention modalities, including clinical, pharmaceutical, behavioural, environmental, social, and policy-based approaches.
• Research should go beyond improving understanding of the aetiology or epidemiology of diseases and encompass the development and piloting of interventions for their prevention.
• This call encourages projects that aim to develop interventions for populations that are underrepresented, marginalised or disproportionately affected by a health/disease condition. However, research focusing solely on health disparities (e.g. the social determinants of health) does not fulfil the requirements of this call.
• Projects should ensure appropriate involvement of the risk populations and relevant data from these populations. Applicants must consider ethical and legal requirements, the quality and quantity of data required for sufficiently powered studies, and the timeliness of acquiring data.
  • Based on recent experience, WWTF considers gaining access to data from health insurance institutions in Austria to be extremely difficult, even when an initial commitment to data access has been provided. Negotiations with these organisations regarding data access may exceed the project’s timeframe.
    

Outside of scope

The following types of projects are deemed to be outside the scope of this call:

• Projects that focus solely on data collection or establishing registries without also involving research into improving health or disease prevention for the target population.
• Projects that aim solely to evaluate existing health promotion or disease prevention measures, and which do not develop and/or pilot improved interventions.
• Health services research (e.g., evaluating the effectiveness of health policies, identifying gaps in the healthcare system, or improving electronic health records systems) that does not focus on a defined population or include ways to improve health or disease prevention for that population.
• Projects focused on general health literacy or attitudes towards medical research (e.g., scepticism about science), which do not focus on a defined target population or specific interventions to improve health or disease prevention for that population.
• Purely biomedical or preclinical research (e.g., dissection of risk or protection factors) that do not extend to the development of an intervention strategy in a target population.
• Projects that primarily aim to develop treatments (e.g., curing, controlling or alleviating symptoms) or tertiary prevention interventions (e.g. reducing complications or facilitating rehabilitation) once a disease has been established.
  

LS26 Targeted Prevention / 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 5^th, 2026, 2pm CET. 

• Full proposals: Short proposals selected by the jury are invited to submit an extended full proposal that includes more detailed descriptions of the proposed work and the budget. Applicants will have the opportunity to respond in writing to the external reviews of the full proposal.
  • The decision regarding which short proposals will progress to the full proposal phase is expected in early July 2026. 

Full proposal deadline: October 6^th, 2026, 2pm CET. 

Applicant response phase: between February 8^th – 19^th, 2027.
Applicants invited to submit a full proposal will be notified of the exact dates in late January 2027.

• The funding decision for the full proposals is expected in mid-March 2027. 

LS26 Targeted Prevention / Roles of Applicants

The general eligibility of applicants is specified in the WWTF Funding Guideline (in German only).

A project’s core research team may comprise up to three Principal Investigators (PIs): one PI&C and up to two co-PIs. 

All members of the core research team should have an academic background.

• Core team members may share equal management and scientific responsibilities in the project.
• The core team must demonstrate an excellent scientific track record and 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 or co-PI) in a maximum of two proposals in this call. If a PI is involved in three or more proposals, WWTF will only accept the first two proposals submitted. Participation in other past, ongoing or funded WWTF projects does not affect eligibility to apply for this call.

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

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

Up to two co-PIs may also be included 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.

Additional project partners and collaborators may be included in the research team and allocated budget. In the short proposal phase, only the names of the additional institutions are required. At the full proposal stage, the individual collaborators at these institutions can be added by name.

• Depending on their intended roles and contribution to the project, non-academic stakeholders should be integrated into the project as appropriate (e.g., inclusion as project partners, conducting joint workshops or consultations, etc.) . Up to 10% of the budget may be allocated to costs associated with non-academic stakeholders.

• 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 based outside of Vienna may receive up to 20% (i.e., <20%) the total requested funding.
• For Joint Projects, project partners in Lower Austria should receive between 20 - 49% of the total budget. Additional partners from outside Vienna and Lower Austria may receive up to 20% of the total budget.

LS26 Targeted Prevention / 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. 

Please note the following conditions regarding team composition and budget allocation in Joint Projects:

• To incentivize the cooperation, the total maximum funding amount for a JP consortium is € 800,000 (i.e., an additional € 50,000 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%. If the Lower Austrian share is ≤20%, the project is considered 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 from outside Vienna and 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%). 
• In the context of WWTF funding activities, regional branches of Viennese institutions (e.g., BOKU, VetMed, AIT) located in Lower Austria are considered as Vienna-based.

Conversion between JPs and regular WWTF projects is not possible between the short and full proposal phases, nor at any later point.

LS26 Targeted Prevention / Structure of the Proposal

The content and structure of the proposal are defined and specified in the Submission Guidelines as well as directly in the WWTF Funding Portal. We encourage you to create a proposal in the Funding Portal to view the details of the proposal. Creating a proposal does not create any obligations towards WWTF. Incomplete and unsubmitted proposals will be deleted after the deadline for submissions.

Applicants invited to submit a full proposal will be provided with an additional submission guidelines specifically for the second phase. An overview of the main parts of the short and full proposals 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 approaches, presented as text only (i.e. no figures permitted).	Project description (about 15 pages): elaboration of the research idea and approaches (mandatory template is provided, which allows for figures, tables, etc.)
Project core team: CVs and roles in the project (mandatory template is provided)	Project team and further collaboration partners: CVs of all core team members (mandatory template is provided) and roles in project of all team members
Budget overview by main categories	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 authorizing persons at the institutions of the core team members	Signatures: from the authorizing persons at all participating institutions

Please note that the short proposal will be evaluated only by a jury panel acting as high-level generalists. In contrast, the full proposal will be evaluated by reviewers with specific expertise in the proposal's topics. Therefore, ensure that you provide an appropriate level of scientific detail at each stage, to enable the respective audience to evaluate the proposal.

LS26 Targeted Prevention / Eligible Costs

All costs that are directly attributable to the project and are regarded as commonly required in the respective research 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 majority of the project’s budget should be allocated to personnel costs for researchers working on the project.

• Eligible forms of employment contracts include full-time, part-time and marginal employment contracts (“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 in accordance with the “Kollektivvertrag” (collective agreement) of the Austrian universities or 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 Funding Portal's budget calculation of salaries automatically includes a 3.5% p.a. increase for the duration of the project (full proposal budget only).
• Applications for personnel costs must fall under one of the following categories:
  • Senior personnel: highly qualified scientists, usually permanently employed
  • Postdoc or equivalent qualification, including senior postdocs
  • PhD student or equivalent qualification level
  • Diploma student: Bachelor or Master students
  • Office/Technician: administrative staff 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 are contractually obliged to acquire third-party funding to co-finance 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 outright 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 for larger equipment essential for the project may only be requested on a pro rata basis, taking into account the duration of the project and the proportion of time that the equipment will be used for the project. Funding by WWTF in project calls is not intended to cover investment in general and larger infrastructure. 
• Consumables: Costs for project-related expenses such as 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.
• Workshops/conferences: Costs for organizing events, workshops, and conferences, as well as for hosting invited speakers, are eligible. This also includes costs for single or recurring events with non-academic stakeholders. 
• Other costs: Third-party costs, (e.g., external studies, 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.

Overheads are calculated as a percentage of the project's direct costs (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 the sum of direct and indirect costs.

Applicants are required to comply with the overhead regulations of the involved institutions.

Please consider WWTF's Recognition of Costs in Funding Guidelines (in German only). Please use your preferred translation program to translate the guidelines into English.

LS26 Targeted Prevention / Gender Aspects in the Application Phase

WWTF’s Gender Strategy and Gender Equality Plan must be considered throughout the application. Please refer to WWTF's guidelines and instructions, in particular the chapter regarding the proposal phase. 

LS26 Targeted Prevention / 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.

• As a member of the Austrian Agency for Research Integrity (OeAWI), WWTF is committed to their standards for good scientific practice. Applicants must therefore comply with 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 current and future calls.

Use of AI in Proposal Writing

WWTF recognizes that the use of generative AI (genAI) tools is pervasive and can facilitate proposal writing, for example by improving written language. However, substantial use of genAI tools 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 genAI 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 permit the use of AI for forming judgements or making decisions during the review and evaluation processes.

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 must 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.

If concerns be raised, WWTF may require the verdict of an ethics committee even if the project team has not identified any potential ethical issues regarding their proposed work. 

• Upon invitation to submit a full proposal, applicants must provide a more detailed description of the ethical aspects of their 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 not yet 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 necessary ethical approvals will be taken into account when the full proposal is evaluated. Insufficient demonstration of the ability to obtain ethical approval in 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 that of the proposed project, a statement confirming that the approval will cover the planned research must be provided in the Funding Portal.
• 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, the proposal must include a clear statement from a core team member confirming that they are authorised to conduct the planned research within the scope of the 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”) as part of their application. The above also applies for extensions.

Non-compliance will result in the proposal being rejected on formal grounds.

LS26 Targeted Prevention / Open Science

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

LS26 Targeted Prevention / 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., PI&C and co-PIs), may access and edit the proposal. Only the PI&C can submit the proposal.
• The proposal structure and steps for completing the application in the WWTF Funding Portal are described in more detail in the Submission Guidelines, which will be made available in March 2026.
• Signatures of the authorized signatory at participating institutions (“authorizations”) are required in the application process.
  • In the short proposal phase, signatures are only required from the authorized persons at the institutions of the core team members.
  • In the full proposal phase, authorizing signatures from additional partner institutions are also required.

Please contact your institution’s research services department well in advance to find out about your institute’s internal processes and timelines.

• Applications must be written in English. Submissions in other languages will be formally rejected. 

LS26 Targeted Prevention / Evaluation Criteria

Main evaluation criteria

• Scope: Is the project within the scope of the call as described in this document?

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

The key evaluation criteria for the proposals are scientific excellence and innovation, relevance and impact, and the pathway to implementation of the proposed work.

• Scientific excellence and innovation: To what extent does the project demonstrate scientific novelty in its proposed approach? What is the additional value of this innovation for addressing the specified research gap? Is the project’s overall approach scientifically excellent and appropriate for achieving its aims?
• Relevance and impact: To what extent does the project contribute to advances in targeted prevention research? How has the team ensured the relevance of the project’s aims, methodology and anticipated outcomes for the specified risk group? What potential does the project have to improve the health and well-being of this group? How great an impact is this project likely to have on the health of this group?
• Pathway to implementation: Does the project present a pathway to implementation that will facilitate its intended impact? To what extent have factors relevant for implementation been addressed?
• Team composition and excellence: Do the applicants demonstrate the scientific expertise and potential to conduct the proposed research? Does the team include an appropriate combination of expertise, bringing together researchers from complementary scientific fields as required? Have additional relevant stakeholders with the necessary expertise been included as appropriate?
  • Please note that scientific excellence and track record will be assessed according to academic age. 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.

Further evaluation criteria

• Feasibility: Given the competences of the research team, the suggested methods, the timeframe, resources and budget, can the project achieve its goals? 
  
• Consideration of gender aspects: The relevance of potential sex-specific and gender-related aspects of the proposed project should be considered and explained throughout the proposal. Please consider WWTF's guidelines regarding sex and gender in research.
• Open Science. Does the proposed work adhere to WWTF's Open Science Policy? 

Please note that the short proposal will be evaluated by a high-level jury panel only, whereas the full proposal will be evaluated by experts in the project's specific fields. An appropriate level of scientific detail should therefore be provided at each stage to allow the respective audience to evaluate the proposal.

LS26 Targeted Prevention / Selection and Decision Processes

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, the jury comprises 6-12 outstanding international experts who have no current affiliation with an Austrian institution and no other known conflicts of interest.
• Jury members are selected by WWTF according to their expertise in the topic of the call.
• The names of the jury members will be published on the WWTF website once the formal funding decision has been finalised by the WWTF Board of Directors.

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 short proposal is independently assessed by at least two jury members based on the evaluation criteria.
• The jury decides at a meeting whether to invite a short proposal to the full proposal stage. This usually takes place 1-2 months after the short proposal submission deadline. 
• All applicants will be informed of the outcome in a timely manner. Unsuccessful applicants will receive a short jury statement explaining the decision. Successful applicants will be invited to submit a full-length proposal.

Evaluation of full proposals

• All full proposals submitted in accordance with the guidelines 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 and extend the information in the short proposal. Any major deviations from the short proposal must be explicitly justified. If these deviations cannot be satisfactorily explained, the proposal may be rejected by the jury at this stage.

Eligible full proposals will undergo a review process. 

• WWTF will obtain a minimum of two written reviews (usually three or four) 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. In practice, this excludes reviewers who have published with the applicants within the last five years or who 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 edited volumes/proceedings, 'community papers' with more than 30 authors, and common attendance at workshops and conferences do not constitute a conflict of interest. Additionally, reviewers are asked to disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
• Reviewers will be asked to provide their assessment of the proposal via a standardised online questionnaire.
• The expert reviewers remain anonymous to the applicants.
• Jury members will nominate reviewers. In addition, in the full proposal submissions, applicants are asked to suggest five 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 three persons without stating any reasons. Reviewers on the negative list will not be contacted. 

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. Additional members may be added to the jury if supplementary expertise is needed to cover the topics of the proposals. At least two jury members will be assigned to each proposal to act as rapporteurs.

• The jury's evaluation is based on the full proposals, the external reviews and the applicant’s response to the reviews. The arguments put forward in the reviews will be carefully weighed against 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 first be formally confirmed by the WWTF Advisory Board, and then approved by the WWTF Board of Directors.

• Applicants will be promptly informed of 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 their project was not selected for funding.

WWTF does not permit rebuttals of recommendations by the jury panel or decisions by the WWTF Board of Directors.

LS26 Targeted Prevention / Funded Projects

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 contractual documents.

• 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 constitutes a project according to §27 of the Universities Act 2002. The institution will then authorizes the respective PI&C to sign for the full scientific and financial responsibility of the project.

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.