doc.funds
The doc.funds program strengthens structured doctoral studies in Austria: grants for personnel costs of doctoral candidates, training costs, and general project expenses. Submission deadline: 26.02.2026, 2 p.m. (Vienna).
Discover your potential with AI support
- Find out if this grant matches your project
- Develop your application together with AI
- Get matched with many more suitable grants
Grant criteria
Funding objective
Support for excellent scientific or artistic-scientific training of doctoral candidates within the framework of existing doctoral programs established for at least two years. The goal is the sustainable strengthening of training structures and research orientation at Austrian research institutions authorized to award doctorates.
Eligible expenses
- Personnel costs (doctoral candidate positions)
- Training costs (max. €5,000 p.a. per doctoral candidate)
- General project costs (8%)
- Equality and gender measures
Non-eligible expenses
- Publication costs
- Infrastructure costs
- Overhead administrative costs
Eligible to apply
- Educational Institutions
Funding requirements
- Structured doctoral program existing for at least 2 years at an Austrian research institution with the right to award doctorates
- Consortium of at least five faculty members active in scientific or artistic-scientific fields
- Faculty members with excellent publication/work achievements and supervision experience
- Gender equality requirement: at least one third of the consortium must be of the underrepresented gender
Documents required for application
- Proposal.pdf (Project description including appendices 1–3)
- PI_publication.pdf (two publications/works per faculty member)
- Publication_lists.pdf (all publications/works from the last 5 years)
- Dissertation_topics.pdf (description of dissertation projects, 1 page per position)
- Supervision_list.pdf (overview of supervised doctoral candidates)
- Forms: Assignment of research institution, contact form, application form, program-specific data, cost breakdown, scientific abstract, co-authors
- Optional: Cover_letter.pdf, Negative_list.pdf, Revision.pdf, Overview_revision.pdf
Evaluation criteria
- Quality of previous and planned research
- Quality and composition of the faculty
- Quality of the existing training program
- Organizational structure
- Added value
- Ethics and gender sensitivity
Description
doc.funds offers Austrian universities and universities of applied sciences long-term support to promote structured doctoral programs. Research institutions with doctoral awarding rights established for at least two years can apply for grants covering personnel costs for five to ten doctoral positions – including training costs of up to €5,000 per doctoral candidate per year as well as general project costs amounting to 8%. The funding extends over up to 48 months and enables, in addition to the remuneration of scientific staff, investments in gender and equality measures. A prerequisite is the involvement of a consortium of at least five excellent faculty members, ensuring that one third represent underrepresented genders. The program aims to train doctoral candidates within a clearly structured research framework that meets international standards and addresses ethical as well as gender-sensitive issues.
Applications are submitted online via the FWF portal elane by February 26, 2026, 2:00 p.m. (Vienna time). Required documents include Proposal.pdf with project and training description, appendices on literature, financial aspects, and CVs, publication records in PI_publication.pdf, comprehensive publication lists, dissertation plans, and an overview of supervised doctoral candidates. Additionally, cover letters, exclusion lists, or revision documents may be uploaded upon resubmission. The evaluation is conducted internationally and considers criteria such as research excellence, training quality, and sustainability of structures. All applications are subject to compliance with applicable legal and data protection regulations as well as the open access policy. doc.funds thus strengthens research orientation and firmly establishes high-quality doctoral structures in Austria in the long term.
Ready to secure your funding?
Register now and let our AI guide you through the application process – from eligibility check to finished application.