Target group
The funding program is aimed at researchers working in the field of animal health and welfare at universities, non-academic research institutions, and nonprofit organizations in related sectors.
Funding goals
The upcoming call aims to improve animal health and welfare by supporting innovative research to develop new and improved technologies and to address fundamental socio-economic issues related to the prevention, detection, assessment, and management of animal health and welfare issues.
Funding period and funding amount
The maximum funding period is 36 months.
Requirements
The requirements and specifications for the FWF program Principal Investigator Projects apply.
Information on the current call “Shaping the Future of Animal Health and Welfare”
Topic 1: Animal Welfare: Improving animal welfare along the entire production chain, taking socio-economic conflicts of interest into account where applicable
Topic 2: Prevention & Control: Developing new veterinary therapies and vaccines, reducing the use of antibiotics, and strengthening animal resilience
For details on thematic requirements and restrictions, please see the EUPAHW website.
Each proposal must involve a minimum of three and a maximum of eight partners from at least three different participating partner countries. A joint proposal must be submitted by the project coordinator to the central Call Secretariat. The financial share of each participating country may not exceed 50%.
The researchers are funded by their respective national/regional funding organizations.
Funding organizations from 19 countries are planning to take part in the call. The current list of potential participating countries can be found on the EUPAHW website.
Approval
Decided by the FWF Scientific Board based on a recommendation of the Call Secretariat
Application information
Applications must be submitted to both the Call Secretariat and the FWF. This applies to both pre-proposals and full proposals.
Submitting an application to the Call Secretariat
The pre-proposal must be submitted using the Call Secretariat’s online application system by March 30, 2026. Please see the EUPAHW website for the link to the application system.
Application and review are carried out in a two-stage procedure.
- Submission of pre-proposals: January 26, 2026 to March 30, 2026 (12:00 noon CET)
- Deadline for full proposals: September 16, 2026 (12:00 noon CEST)
- Decision on full proposals: expected in December 2026
Submitting an application to the FWF
In addition to the application to the Call Secretariat, administrative and financial data for the proposal, academic abstracts (in compliance with the FWF application guidelines for Principal Investigator Projects), and a Word file detailing the basic research part of the Austrian subproject (no more than one page) must be submitted to the FWF on elane.
- In the pre-proposal phase, applications must be submitted under the program category “PIK – International Projects (Pre-Proposals)” (deadline: March 31, 2026, 2:00 pm local time Vienna).
- For the full proposal phase, please select the program category “KIN – International – Multilateral Initiatives” (deadline: September 17, 2026, 2:00 pm local time Vienna).
Both steps are required.
Please note that applications must be approved for submission by the research institutions before the deadlines indicated above. Research institutions must be registered in the FWF's research institution portal.
Funding institutions
Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Fonds Zukunft Österreich, co-funded by the European Union
Further information
- The maximum amount that can be requested by FWF principal investigators is €450,000.
- Details can be found on the EUPAHW website.
- For general questions about the call, please contact the Joint Call Secretariat (Jülich) at ptj-pahw(at)fz-juelich.de. If you have specific questions about the budget, the criteria, or individual funding organizations’ requirements, please consult the funding organization directly.
