The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) created the FWF ASTRA Awards, a premier and fiercely competitive career funding program, to improve Austria’s research environment by drawing in, assisting, and keeping extraordinarily gifted researchers. Advanced postdoctoral researchers who have proven their capacity for leadership and scientific brilliance are the program’s target audience.
Recipients of the ASTRA Awards can pursue ambitious, high-impact research projects with a high degree of independence because of the significant, long-term financing they give. The program is intended to assist researchers in developing their own research profiles, teams, and networks in addition to providing funding for their studies. This will help them advance toward leadership or permanent academic positions at Austrian universities and research institutions that compete globally.
The FWF ASTRA Awards are crucial in promoting scientific innovation, academic independence, and long-term career stability for elite researchers in the Austrian research system because they combine financial support with a strong emphasis on career development.
Host Country: Austria
University: Austrian Universities
Opportunity Type: Post Doctorate
Eligibility Country: International Students, Domestic Students
Financial Coverage: Fully Funded
Eligibility Criteria:
- Before September 30 of the year of submission, candidates must have a doctorate that has been awarded for at least two years and no more than nine years.
- Parental leave and proven career interruptions are exceptions to the eligibility term.
- Candidates without a PhD may apply for arts-based research provided they have two to nine years of internationally recognized research experience.
- Candidates must show that they have a solid track record of independent research, including:
- Acquiring competitive finance from outside parties
- Three months or more of uninterrupted overseas research experience
- Independent publications created without the dissertation supervisor’s assistance
- At the time of application, candidates must not be employed as tenured professors or in a comparable senior leadership role.
- Only one authorized ASTRA project may be led by each applicant, who may apply up to twice throughout their career.
- Applications must be submitted via an Austrian research organization that qualifies.
Benefits:
- One of the largest research grants in Europe is given to successful applicants, and it includes:
- Funding between €500,000 and €1,000,000 for a maximum of five years
- Funding for long-term, creative, and dangerous research initiatives
- A focus on professional growth that leads to leadership positions in academia
- To encourage gender parity in research careers, 50% of the grants are set aside for women.
- The following are specific actions taken to assist female researchers:
- Professional networking opportunities and career coaching
- Allowances for children to promote work-life balance
- Women who acquire a permanent or tenure-track job during the first three years of the award will receive a €200,000 tenure package.
- Recipients receive strong institutional integration within Austria’s scientific environment and increased worldwide recognition.
- Non-selected hearing finalists can apply for Merit Awards, which provide up to €450,000 in financing for three-year principal investigator (PI) studies.
Deadline: Open
