More Options for the doc.funds.connect Program

Fifteen successful doctoral programs with around 75 doctoral students funded at Austrian universities and universities of applied sciences: The interim results after five years of the doc.funds.connect program are impressive. The FWF has evaluated the program together with the stakeholders involved to ensure that its further development remains in line with funding needs. The resulting innovations will open up even more possibilities in the future.

October 6, 2025

Drei Personen hinter einer Glaswand mit Post-Its — The FWF continues to develop the doc.funds.connect program: More doctoral students per project, higher funding for project costs, and an annual networking meeting are among the innovations. © iStock

Attractive career opportunities for doctoral students help them gain a foothold in promising research fields – since 2020, doc.funds.connect grants have been funding joint doctoral training programs at universities and universities of applied sciences. The program facilitates cooperation between institutions, strengthens the research competence of universities of applied sciences, and offers doctoral students additional opportunities for career development.

Needs-oriented further development following consultation process

As part of the quality assurance process, the FWF asked representatives of universities, universities of applied sciences, and the Ministry of Science, as well as funded researchers for suggestions and ideas on the program’s further development. In four workshops, the participants discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the program with the help of external consultants. Together, they have developed a series of suggestions on how the doc.funds.connect program can be made even more attractive. These are aimed at the FWF, but also at all other partners involved, i.e., universities, universities of applied sciences, and government agencies.

Detailed information on the process and the resulting development potential identified can be found in the Final Report (in German).

Innovations for the upcoming call opening in December 2025

Based on the results of the consultations, the FWF is working with the Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research to further develop the funding program: The maximum number of doctoral positions that can be applied for will be increased from five to eight, and the general project costs will be raised from 8% to 15%. An annual “doc.funds.connect Day” will be held to encourage networking between the projects while also strengthening communication with the FWF. The successful cooperation with the Christian Doppler Research Association will be continued. The current number of two jury members with experience in application-oriented research will be retained and, if necessary, expanded. At the FWF webinars on applying for the doc.funds.connect program, the importance of reviews and hearings as well as the evaluation criteria will be emphasized even more than before.

With this further development, the FWF aims to tailor the funding even better to applicants’ needs and to focus on the program’s strengths: encouraging cooperation, networking, and joint research, supporting early-stage researchers and their career development, promoting exchange across disciplinary and institutional boundaries, and providing reliable funding and the greatest possible freedom and flexibility for excellent research.

The fifth call for applications will open in early December 2025 and will run until February 2026.