Funding News 04/2025
Are you looking for funding opportunities for your research project? The Research Service Center's Funding News provide information about national and international calls in WU's research areas as well as news from the world of research funding. You can find more calls in the Research Service Centers's research funding database.
Do you need support with your application? The WU Research Service team is happy to answer questions and provide personal advice.
Good luck and all the best from your Research Service Center!
Looking back on 2025 -WU on the road to success
We can look back on a busy and successful year in 2025. One thing became particularly clear: the WU is on the road to success. Beyond the individual subject areas, third-party-funded research proposals and projects were advanced and outreach to the scientific community was strengthened. In this process, we succeeded in generating strong momentum and translating innovative ideas into successful projects.
The results speak for themselves: submissions to international funding bodies such as the European Commission, but also to national agencies such as the FWF and the FFG, have increased significantly. Our researchers have achieved impressive successes in both the area of excellence and in cooperative projects, visibly advancing the WU in the area of third-party funding.
Here are a few selected highlights:
FWF doc.funds: Two international PhD programs at the WU have been awarded one of only seven doc.funds granted by the FWF: one in Economics (Klaus Gugler) and the other in International Business Taxation (Michael Lang). This coveted funding program strengthens the training of highly qualified doctoral students within existing doctoral programs. The highly competitive doc.funds grant supports universities in providing the best possible training for their most promising young researchers.
EU funding: This year, the WU had an exceptionally high number of EU applications, including three coordination grants for cooperative EU projects. In the area of excellence, there were nine MSCA submissions (five Postdoctoral Fellowships and four Doctoral Networks) and five ERC submissions to date (four Starting Grants and one Synergy Grant; Consolidator Grants still pending). In addition, the ERC Consolidator Grant project MINE-THE-GAP, led by Victor Wegner Maus, was launched at the WU this year.
Further milestones from the FFG and transnational funding: Following a year of numerous submissions in 2024, two projects from the highly competitive Austrian Climate Research Program (ACRP) and two applications under the transnational Driving Urban Transition-Call were approved this year.
These outstanding achievements strengthen the WU's role as an attractive partner for science, business, and society. Congratulations on these outstanding achievements!
In addition, new event formats, such as the Funding Talks launched by the Research Service Center, have been established to promote networking, knowledge transfer, and knowledge valorization among researchers. The event series offers support in acquiring third-party funding and provides exclusive insights into successful projects. Each Funding Talk focuses on a specific funding area or provider.
Our team of the Research Service Center would like to take this opportunity to thank all WU researchers for their dedication, excellent project ideas, and, above all, the appreciative and exciting collaboration!
With this strong tailwind, we are confidently heading into 2026 and look forward to the upcoming calls and funding opportunities.
We wish you a relaxing end to the year and a wonderful start to 2026!