Third-party funding acquired by the University of Vienna in 2026

Press release | University

In total, the FWF had approved 61 projects at the University of Vienna by June 2026; the WWTF funded five research projects

Peter Wienerroither

A successful year for the University of Vienna in the third-party national funding landscape: Markus Aspelmeyer has received the highly prestigious FWF Wittgenstein Award 2026, four academics the highly endowed FWF ASTRA Award, two researchers an ASTRA Merit Award each, and a team of three was granted 1.2 million euros of funding through the #ConnectingMinds programme. As of June 2026, the FWF approved 61 projects, the WWTF funded five research projects.

Wittgenstein Award 2026

On the recommendation of an international jury of experts, the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) awarded the 2026 FWF Wittgenstein Award, worth 2 million euros, to quantum physicist Markus Aspelmeyer from the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Aspelmeyer is tackling one of the greatest scientific challenges of our time: the incompatibility of two major theories of physics – quantum mechanics and the general theory of relativity. The aim of his research is to develop experiments that could elucidate the interaction between gravity and quantum physics. Learn more from an interview with Markus Aspelmeyer. 

FWF ASTRA

In July 2024, the FWF launched a new career funding programme called the FWF ASTRA Awards. This funding gives advanced postdoctoral researchers in Austria the opportunity to leap to the top of their fields. The generous endowments provide outstanding researchers with the conditions they need to conduct long-term research projects at a top international level, enabling them to consolidate their individual research profiles and acquire the necessary qualifications for academic leadership positions.

Four researchers from the University of Vienna received the 2026 FWF ASTRA Awards:

  • mathematician Matija Bucic for his project "Pass-to-Expander Paradigm"  
  • astrophysicist Katja Fahrion for her project "Measuring the Universe with Star Clusters"
  • from the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science Bettina Glasl for her project "MicroScape"
  • and, also from the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Sarah Pati for her project "Sources and Transformations of Emerging Sulfonate Pollutants" 

Two other researchers from the University of Vienna qualified for the jury hearing based on outstanding peer reviews. Although they did not ultimately receive a full FWF ASTRA Award, they were awarded Merit Awards. These provide seed funding for research projects equivalent to an average FWF Principal Investigator project.

  • Markus Faulhuber from the Department of Mathematics for his project "Quantum Sampling"
  • Pavel Pokhilko from the Department of Theoretical Chemistry for his project "Coupled-Cluster Methods for Strongly Correlated Materials"

FWF #ConnectingMinds

With the #ConnectingMinds programme, the FWF encourages researchers to involve non-academic stakeholders in their research projects. Funding is available to teams that combine both academic and social knowledge and are applying them to help tackle social, technological, ecological and economic challenges. The focus is on transdisciplinarity, innovative research approaches and support for community engagement and collective learning spaces.

In 2026, scientists Krzysztof Janowicz, Meike Levin-Keitel and Patrick Sakdapolrak from the Department of Geography and Regional Research secured a major endowment from the #ConnectingMinds programme for their project "Adaptation for Just and Sustainable Transitions (ADJUST)."

FWF Emerging Fields

The Emerging Fields programme is aimed at teams engaged in pioneering basic research that ventures beyond conventional approaches. It provides funding for the pursuit of bold, high-risk ideas. The programme specifically targets research capable of triggering paradigm shifts and generating disruptive innovation.

In 2026, eight scientists of the University of Vienna have received Emerging Fields funding:

FWF Research Group

The Research Group scheme supports teams of three to five researchers working on complex research questions or developing new ones and pursuing interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary approaches, independent of location.

In 2026, a team of three scientists including Ingeborg Lang from the Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology at the University of Vienna as well as Andreas Holzinger and Notburga Gierlinger, both from BOKU University, received Research Group funding for their project "Out of the Water: Bryophytes Conquer Land."

Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF)

The WWTF’s mission is to support outstanding scientific research by providing funding resources. Scientific work is embedded in socially relevant issues through carefully planned focus areas and active networking between disciplines and institutions. This is how the WWTF seeks to contribute to a better world through science and research.

In 2026, nine researchers from the University of Vienna and their projects have been supported by the WWTF:

  • Anna Weinzinger, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences: "Decoding GNB1E: Advanced Drug Repurposing for Personalized Treatment"
  • Kieran Leschinski and Janus Brink, Department of Astronomy: "Building a Global Citizen-Science Data Portal for Time-Domain Astronomy"
  • Till Hilmar, Department of Sociology, "Annotating Meaning at Scale: Developing an Integrated Research Environment for Textual Data"
  • William Tecumseh Sherman Fitch, Barbara Klump and Petra Sumasgutner, Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Biology: "AI-based Animal Behaviour Coding Project"
  • Nadia Steiber, Department of Sociology: "From Registers to Research: Building an AMDC-based Household Panel"
  • Magdalena Eitenberger, Department of Political Science: "ME/CFS Pathways: Understanding and Translating Lived Experiences of Uncertain Diagnosis and Healthcare"

AWS Proof of Concept

The Proof of Concept programme by the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS) promotes research that can demonstrate feasibility and patent potential. This funding supports research activities that can facilitate the identification of potential scopes of application, which may accelerate the transfer of technology and knowledge.

In 2026, four scientists from the University of Vienna have received Proof of Concept funding:

  • Andrii Chumak, in the field of nanomagnetism and magnonics at the Faculty of Physics for the project "Spin-wave RF Filters for 5G Communication Systems"
  • Nuno Maulide, Department of Organic Chemistry, for "Aminity - Rethinking Pharmaceutical Production Toward Accessible Generics"
  • Oliver Heckl and Collin Aldia Pulickal Edwin, in the field of optical metrology at the Faculty of Physics, for project "Method for Operating a Single-cavity Dual-comb Laser Tailored for Spectroscopic Applications"

FFG Expedition Zukunft

The Expedition Zukunft programme by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) supports pioneering innovations that can sustainably change our future for the better, achieve radical technological leaps, create new markets or fundamentally transform them or provide comprehensive solutions to major societal and ecological challenges.

Maria Anzengruber and Katharina Skoll from the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences received funding for their innovative project "FlowCube - A Novel 3D-printed Tool for In Vitro Cell Interaction Studies under Flow Conditions."

Learn more about international third-party funding successes via the University of Vienna’s overview of prizes and awards.