The President ensures the FWF’s external representation, chairs the FWF Board and the Executive Board and assumes the direction of the FWF offices. The President may be deputized in all of his or her tasks by a member of the Executive Board.

Composed of the President, three Scientific Vice-Presidents and the Executive Vice-President, the Executive Board coordinates the organisation’s activities and is in charge of defining the FWF's strategic objectives as well as developing and furthering its funding programmes. In addition, the Executive Board takes part in negotiations with Austrian and European research policymakers, cooperates with universities and other scientific institutions in Austria and abroad, and represents the FWF at the national and international level. The members of the Executive Board are members of the Assembly of Delegates and of the FWF Board. The Scientific Vice-Presidents are each in charge of a specialist department at the FWF.

Executive Board

The Supervisory Board is entrusted with numerous powers of monitoring and approval. It adopts resolutions on the FWF’s annual accounts as well as its annual budget forecasts and its multi-annual and annual work plans. The Supervisory Board elects the President and the Vice-Presidents on the basis of a shortlist of three candidates submitted by the Assembly of Delegates. Upon consultation with the President, it appoints the Executive Vice-President.

Supervisory Board

The Assembly of Delegates makes decisions on the rules of procedure for its own activities as well as those of the Executive Board and the FWF Board. This body also submits a shortlist of three candidates for the office of President and elects the members of the FWF Board based on a proposal by the Executive Board as well as four members of the Supervisory Board.

Assembly of Delegates

The FWF Board is responsible for deciding on funding for research projects.

FWF Board

The FWF has established an International Strategic Advisory Board to challenge its funding activities with state-of-the-art expertise from world-renowned researchers.

International Strategic Advisory Board

The expert juries and boards deployed in certain FWF programmes submit funding recommendations for the FWF board.

START/Wittgenstein Jury
PEEK Board
Science Communication Jury

The Secretariat handles day-to-day operations at the FWF. This department is headed by the FWF's President and is subdivided into three divisions:

• Specialist departments (Life Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences, Natural and Technical Sciences, Mobility and Women's Programmes)
• Strategy departments (International Programmes, National Programmes, Analysis)

• Internal departments (Public Relations, Finance, Auditing, IT, Organisation & Human Resources, Legal Affairs & Committee Support)

FWF team