FFG Diversity Cheque

FFG Diversity Cheque

Funds Austrian small businesses with practical support for building inclusive and diverse teams.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The FFG Diversity Cheque 2024 is a small, de minimis, non-repayable grant issued by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI). It helps Austrian SMEs in natural sciences and technology sectors take their first practical steps toward embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their organisations. The programme is exclusively open to small and medium-sized enterprises that have an R&D need for personnel in natural sciences or technology and hold an Austrian place of business or branch. Sole traders, universities, non-profits, and large enterprises are not eligible.

Applicants choose one of six eligible topics: diversity analysis (examining corporate culture and identifying improvement areas), building diversity competence through trainings, recruiting and HR measures to build diverse teams, a mentoring programme for underrepresented groups, developing a Gender Equality Plan, or an open creative category. The entire project must be accompanied by an external person holding DEI expertise; the only eligible costs are those third-party DEI service fees. The maximum grant is EUR 10,000, covering 80% of eligible costs up to EUR 12,500. Because it is classified as de minimis state aid, it counts toward the applicant's three-year EU de minimis ceiling. The submission window runs from 6 November 2024 to 29 May 2026 at 12:00 local time (or until funding is exhausted); decisions are made on a rolling basis after submission.

Applications are submitted at any time via FFG's eCall system. The programme does not require co-applicants or a consortium—single-SME applications are standard. An English-language information sheet is available, though the formal application guidelines are in German. Companies that complete a Diversity Cheque project may subsequently apply to DIVERSITEC for deeper organisational DEI development. Success depends on selecting a clearly scoped topic, engaging a qualified external DEI consultant, and demonstrating an R&D-related workforce context in the application.