In 2025, the FWF was able to fund new research projects worth âŹ339 million (plus the excellent=austria initiative which added âŹ81 million for 2023 and âŹ106 million for 2024).
High Demand for Research Funding Continues
Austria's basic research community is growing, and with it the demand for funding. These trends are reflected in the funding balance of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). With new research projects amounting to around âŹ340 million, the total funding volume has decreased without the previous yearâs excellent=austria approvals, but the amount of funding granted in all other programs increased by an average of 9%. With 749 newly approved projects, more cutting-edge research projects than ever before were launched in Austria.
In total, the FWF is currently funding over 5,300 researchers at Austria's universities and non-university research institutions â another new record that highlights Austriaâs outstanding scientific potential and the importance of FWF funding for the success of cutting-edge research. The FWFâs highly competitive grants play a key role in developing excellent academic performance, boosting economic growth, strengthening competitiveness, and tackling social challenges. Around âŹ136.4 million went to research in the field of natural sciences and technology, âŹ125.3 million in biology and medical sciences, and âŹ77.4 million in the humanities and social sciences.
âResearch policy is policy for the future. Now, more than ever, it is crucial to create opportunities and lay the groundwork for a strong, independent, and forward-looking scientific community in Austria. The fact that we secured record-breaking investments of around âŹ5.5 billion in the current FTI Pact is not business as usual: it is a clear political commitment. Investments in science are investments in innovation, in social progress, in good jobs â and in a resilient democracy. Because an open society needs reliable knowledge, critical thinking, and the courage to break new ground,â says Minister of Science Eva-Maria Holzleitner.
âMore FWF-funded researchers than ever are currently working on generating new knowledge, which leads to medical breakthroughs, technological innovations, and solutions for social challenges. In the face of global crises and uncertainties, it is crucial to continue investing in the brightest ideas: This is the only way to ensure innovative strength, economic power, and the ability to respond effectively to future challenges. What may seem like pure curiosity today could well become relevant for all of us tomorrow,â says Christof Gattringer, President of the FWF, at the presentation of the funding balance.
More funding applications submitted than ever before - approval rate remains under pressure
The demand for third-party funding from researchers at Austriaâs universities and non-university research institutions remains high. Submissions reached an all-time high last year with around 3,100 funding applications and a requested funding volume of over âŹ1.5 billion. The FWF received significantly more applications, especially from early-stage researchers and international researchers. The approval rate across all funding programs fell to 24% (2024: 24.4%). Based on the average in recent years, the FWF is unable to fund research projects with an annual volume of around âŹ60 million despite their excellent scientific quality. As a result, these excellent âapproved but not fundedâ research ideas cannot be implemented in Austria.
Keeping Austria successful as a research location
The FWFâs funding record demonstrates the importance of excellence-oriented, thematically open basic research to the successful development of Austria as a research location. Numerous areas of strength and key fields in the innovation sector â from quantum technologies to advanced materials and life sciences â are built upon the results of hundreds of FWF-funded projects. The funding programs aim to expand cutting-edge research in line with the goals defined by the federal government in the RTI pact for the 2027-2029 funding period. This includes, in particular, strengthening career support programs for early-stage researchers and continuing the Clusters of Excellence. The future scope of investments in these forward-looking areas, which will maintain the international attractiveness of Austria as a research location and create thousands of jobs, mostly for young researchers, will be defined in a financing agreement between the FWF and the Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research. Negotiations are currently ongoing and will be concluded in the coming weeks.
Current FORWIT recommendations
The current recommendations of the Austrian Council for Sciences, Technology, and Innovation (FORWIT), the government's advisory body on the Austrian research location, also address competitive investments made through the FWF. According to FORWIT, research funding continues to be characterized by low approval rates and increasing demand, especially among young researchers. In order to fully exploit Austriaâs scientific potential in the long term, the FORWIT experts recommend a significant increase in FWF funding for high-performance basic research.
Excellence initiative in full swing
âŹ35 million in funding for five more Emerging Fields projects was approved in March 2026 as part of the federal governmentâs excellent=austria initiative, intended to expand cutting-edge research at universities and non-academic research institutions. Over 1000 researchers are involved in the nine Clusters of Excellence and eleven Emerging Fields. An overview of all Clusters of Excellence and Emerging Fields is available here:
Funding for all areas of modern cutting-edge research
In addition to the research networks funded by the excellence initiative, the FWF continues to fund the entire spectrum of scientific disciplines at all career levels, including flexible project funding at national and international levels (âŹ218 million), early career and career development funding (âŹ80 million), dedicated collaborative research projects (âŹ41 million), and communication and citizen science funding (âŹ1 million). Special programs such as Arts-Based Research, Clinical Research, doc.funds, or the Specialized Research Groups financed by the Fonds Zukunft Ăsterreich strengthen a diverse and broad-based research landscape.
Over 5,300 people employed in FWF projects
Together with the newly approved projects, a total of 2,599 FWF-funded research projects were active by the close of 2025. These projects involve 5,311 researchers at universities and other institutions, 48% of whom are women. It is particularly noteworthy that almost 70% of researchers funded are early-stage researchers (35 years or younger). This confirms the important role the FWF plays in training the next generation of top researchers.
More proposals from early-stage researchers and international researchers
The FWFâs funding programs are designed to attract the best national and international researchers. The ESPRIT career program has a particularly high percentage of researchers with international backgrounds â for almost half of all ESPRIT-funded researchers, FWF funding was a key factor in their decision to move to Austria and develop their academic career here. The FWF has recorded a particularly strong increase in applications in this area. Thanks to additional funding from the Fonds Zukunft Ăsterreich, the FWF has so far been able to meet the increased demand, although a need for additional funding in this area is becoming clear.
Further Fonds Zukunft Ăsterreich projects set to launch
The FWF used funds provided by the Fonds Zukunft Ăsterreich to fund three Special Research Areas (âŹ12 million), three Research Groups (âŹ4.5 million), and seven doc.funds consortia (âŹ16.5 million) with 65 new doctoral positions, as well as several matching funds grants with the federal states. The cooperation with Fonds Zukunft Ăsterreich is crucial for the FWF, which is why it again applied for funding from this key source in 2026.
International cooperation
Investments made through the FWF make a significant contribution to positioning Austria, a comparatively small research location, as an internationally relevant player. Around 75% of all current FWF projects are carried out in cooperation with international partners, demonstrating the strength of Austrian basic researchâs global networks. Numerous bilateral and trilateral funding opportunities make it easier for researchers to work together with international colleagues. With the new initiative âLUKE â Linking Ukraine to the European Research Area,â funded by Horizon Europe, the FWF and FFG are also providing targeted incentives to work with Ukrainian researchers, strengthening Ukraineâs integration into the European Research Area.
More funding for science communication
To help further strengthen trust in science, the FWF will be increasing funding for the Science Communication and Top Citizen Science programs starting in 2026. Instead of the current 10 to 12 projects, funding for 15 to 17 projects will be available in coming years, providing researchers with more resources for innovative science communication.
International peer review by the worldâs leading researchers
International quality standards determine how the FWF awards funding â the only criterion for funding is scientific excellence. In 2025, the FWF commissioned some 5,500 international reviews from over 60 countries, with most of the reviews coming from researchers in the USA, Germany, and the UK.
Impact at all levels: Incoming researchers, start-ups, discoveries
FWF funding has a wide array of impacts, which manifest both in the short term and over longer periods of time. Several researchers were present at the presentation of the current funding balance to illustrate the range of these effects, together with Science Minister Eva-Maria Holzleitner and FWF President Christof Gattringer: FWF Wittgenstein Award winner Elly Tanaka and incoming postdoc Tal Scully (IMBA â Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences) provided insights into new approaches in regeneration research. Computer scientist Ruth Breu (University of Innsbruck) provided an example of successful knowledge transfer to the business community: Her FWF project resulted in the spin-off Txture, which has developed into a leading company in the field of cloud technology management platforms. In addition, communication scientist Claudia Wilhelm (University of Vienna), who was awarded the KĂ€the Leichter State Award in 2025, presented her recent research findings on the use and impact of digital media among young people.
