FWF doc.funds

FWF doc.funds

Supports structured doctoral training by funding research institutions to build collaborative PhD programs and mentorship models.

FWF doc.funds is the Austrian Science Fund's primary instrument for funding structured doctoral training programmes at Austrian research institutions, replacing the earlier DK/DK-Plus Doctoral College schemes. Each funded programme receives approximately €2.5 million over a maximum of 48 months to support five to ten doctoral candidate positions, plus a training cost supplement of up to €5,000 per doctoral candidate per year to cover structured curriculum activities. The programme is currently between active calls; the next jury meeting is scheduled for 12–13 November 2026, with funding decisions expected in late November 2026. Approximately five doctoral programmes are awarded per cycle.

Eligibility is restricted to Austrian research institutions — universities and qualifying research organisations — that submit on behalf of a supervisory team. For-profit and non-profit entities are excluded. The doctoral programme, not the individual PhD candidate, is the unit of funding; institutions must propose a structured training environment, not merely a collection of dissertation topics. A sibling programme, doc.funds.connect, supports cross-institutional doctoral collaborations and is listed separately in the FWF portfolio. All scientific disciplines are eligible.

Institutions planning to submit for the 2026 cycle should note that no submission deadline has been published as of mid-2026; the jury meeting date implies a submission window will open in the coming months. doc.funds applications are evaluated on the quality of the supervisory team, the scientific coherence of the doctoral programme's research agenda, and the institution's capacity to deliver the structured training environment. A strong track record of doctoral supervision and an identifiable thematic focus across the five to ten positions tend to characterise competitive proposals.