Vienna Science And Technology Fund (wwtf)

What Vienna Science And Technology Fund (wwtf) does

Wiener Wissenschafts-, Forschungs- und Technologiefonds (WWTF), branded as the Vienna Science and Technology Fund, is a private non-profit research funding organization established under the Wiener Landes-Stiftungs- und Fondsgesetz and supervised by the City of Vienna's Magistratsabteilung 62. Its core function is to administer competitive research grants for Vienna-based principal investigators and research institutions across thematic programs including Life Sciences, ICT/Digital Humanism, Environmental Systems Research, Empirical Social Sciences, Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators, and University Infrastructure. WWTF is funded primarily by the City of Vienna, which also matches 100% of all private donations, and is governed by a Kuratorium (supervisory board) and Vorstand (management board).

WWTF operates three primary digital assets: (i) the Funding Portal (fundingportal.wwtf.at), launched in May 2022 as the sole entry point for new funding applications, featuring auto-save, role management for PIs and co-PIs, CV templates, budget calculations, and signature workflows; (ii) the legacy Online Submission & Reporting System (funding.wwtf.at), retained only for reporting on projects funded before May 2022; and (iii) a Wiki/User Guide (wiki.wwtf.at) providing programme documentation. Supporting infrastructure includes the JPETo™ CMS for content management (implemented by Martin Thaller IT Dienstleistungen), Piwik web analytics, the ACONET Federation for institutional single-sign-on, dialog-Mail for newsletter delivery, and Unzer Austria for donation payment processing. External law firm HAIDER | OBEREDER | PILZ provides a whistleblower reporting channel, and LOYS Repositioning handles design and branding.

WWTF's business model is non-commercial: it does not sell products or services for revenue, generate fees from grant administration, or operate a market-facing pricing model. Its 'revenue' consists of appropriations from the City of Vienna and matched donations. Applicants are Vienna-based academic researchers and institutions; downstream users of its outputs are the broader Viennese research ecosystem and the public (via the publicly accessible project database). The organization also operates a wholly-owned subsidiary, WWTF GmbH, focused on Services & Studies, which represents a modest extension beyond pure grant-making. Distribution is conducted via the Funding Portal (direct, domestic, single-country) and the public project database.

Name

Vienna Science And Technology Fund (wwtf)

Legal name

Wiener Wissenschafts-, Forschungs- und Technologiefonds (WWTF)

Website

https://wwtf.at

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Wiener Wissenschafts-, Forschungs- und Technologiefonds (WWTF) is a Vienna-based, non-profit science and technology fund under City of Vienna supervision that administers competitive research grants to Vienna-based academic investigators across Life Sciences, ICT, environmental, and social science programmes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Research Funding Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

Keywords

• Research funding
• Science grants
• Grant management
• Academic research support
• Research programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Vienna

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

WWTF is a Vienna-based non-profit science and technology fund that provides competitive research grants to Vienna-based researchers and institutions across disciplines including Life Sciences, ICT/Digital Humanism, Environmental Systems Research, Empirical Social Sciences, Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators, and University Infrastructure. It operates an electronic Funding Portal for proposal submission and a legacy reporting system, and supplements grant disbursement with a public project database and program documentation wiki.

Product overview

WWTF (Wiener Wissenschafts-, Forschungs- und Technologiefonds) is a Vienna-based science and technology fund that operates funding programmes for research. Its core digital offerings consist of the Funding Portal (fundingportal.wwtf.at) for current proposal submissions, the legacy Online Submission & Reporting System (funding.wwtf.at) for historical project reporting, and a Wiki/User Guide platform (wiki.wwtf.at) providing comprehensive documentation for applicants and grantees. These systems support various research funding programmes including Life Sciences, ICT/Digital Humanism, Environmental Systems Research, Vienna Research Groups, Empirical Social Sciences, and University Infrastructure Programmes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WWTF Funding Portal Online submission platform where researchers register, develop proposals, manage PI/co-PI roles, upload CVs, complete budgets and submit applications for WWTF funding calls. Launched for new calls from May 2022 onward.
• Online Submission & Reporting System (Legacy) Older WWTF submission system retained for reporting and contracting on projects funded through calls opened before May 2022; no new proposals accepted.
• WWTF Wiki / User Guide Knowledge base providing detailed guidelines, submission instructions, eligibility criteria, reporting requirements and policy documents for WWTF funding programmes and grant management.
• Life Sciences Funding Programme Thematic funding programme supporting biomedical and life sciences research projects based in Vienna, including open calls such as 'Targeted Prevention' (Life Sciences 2026).
• Vienna Research Groups for Young Investigators (VRG) Programme that funds the establishment of independent research groups led by young investigators at Vienna-based institutions to support early-career research leadership.
• ICT / Digital Humanism Funding Programme Programme providing research funding for information and communication technologies projects with a Digital Humanism orientation in Vienna.
• Environmental Systems Research Funding Programme Programme that funds environmental systems research conducted by Vienna-based scientists, including resilience and crisis-related calls.
• Empirical Social Sciences Funding Programme Programme offering research grants for empirical social sciences projects conducted by researchers based in Vienna.
• University Infrastructure Programme Supplementary funding instrument that supports research infrastructure investments at Vienna-based universities.
• Public Project Database Searchable public database of research projects funded by WWTF, organised by thematic areas including Health/Medicine/Biology, Environment, Digitalisation, Cognition/Learning/Behavior, Future Leaders, Science-to-Economy transfer, and Research Infrastructure.
• WWTF GmbH Services & Studies Wholly-owned subsidiary of WWTF offering services and studies related to research funding activities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Every donated euro is tax deductible and matched by the City of Vienna

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered operational and regulatory.

• Unzer Austria GmbHoperationalOthersPayment service provider for online donations to WWTF. Handles payment processing for the donation functionality on WWTF's website, including various payment methods.
• Magistratsabteilung 62 der Wiener LandesregierungregulatoryOthersGovernment body that provides regulatory supervision of WWTF as a charitable fund under Vienna law.
• HAIDER | OBEREDER | PILZ Rechtsanwält:innen GmbHoperationalOthersExternal law firm providing internal reporting/whistleblowing channel for WWTF. Handles reports of legal violations submitted by whistleblowers through phone (+43 1 406 05 51) or email ([email protected]).
• Martin Thaller IT DienstleistungenoperationalTechnology or IntegrationIT services provider responsible for implementation and technical maintenance of WWTF's websites and systems, including the JPETo CMS platform.
• LOYS RepositioningoperationalOthersDesign and branding agency responsible for the visual design and layout of WWTF materials.
• dialog-Mail eMarketing Systems GmbHoperationalTechnology or IntegrationAustrian company providing newsletter and email marketing software. WWTF uses dialog-Mail for creating and sending emailings, including analysis of opens, reading time, and clicks. Data is processed in a high-security data center in Vienna.
• ACONET FederationoperationalTechnology or IntegrationIdentity federation allowing researchers from member institutions to login to the funding portal using their institutional credentials instead of creating separate WWTF accounts.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• German Research Foundation (DFG): DFG is Germany's central public research funding organisation, funding individual projects, coordinated programmes, and research infrastructure across all disciplines. Comparable in mission (peer-reviewed research funding) though at national scale.
• Austrian Science Fund (FWF): FWF is Austria's national public research funding body, awarding grants across all disciplines. It is the most directly comparable peer to WWTF given the shared country, discipline coverage, and peer-review model, but operates at a national rather than city scope.
• Volkswagen Foundation (VolkswagenStiftung): A major German private science foundation funding research projects, young investigators, and thematic calls across disciplines. Comparable as a thematic-call-driven science funder that also targets young investigators.
• Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF): SNSF is Switzerland's national research funding agency, supporting basic and applied research across all disciplines through competitive peer-reviewed grants. Directly comparable in model and function to WWTF, though nationally scoped.
• Fritz Thyssen Foundation: A German private foundation supporting research in science, economics, and humanities through project-based grants. Directly comparable as a project-based private science funder with thematic calls.
• Carlsberg Foundation: A Danish research funding foundation supporting basic research across natural and social sciences, humanities, and interdisciplinary fields. Comparable in operating model as a private science foundation running themed calls.

Broad incumbents

• European Research Council (ERC): ERC funds individual investigators and teams across Europe through highly competitive frontier research grants. Overlaps with WWTF's investigator-driven funding model but at supranational scale and budget.
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute: A large US biomedical research organisation funding investigator-driven science. Comparable as a science-focused private foundation supporting individual researchers, though life-sciences specialised and at global scale.
• Wellcome Trust: A major UK-based charitable foundation supporting scientific research, with significant focus on health and biomedical sciences. Comparable as a charitable science funder, though at vastly larger scale and globally oriented.

Emerging players

• Novo Nordisk Foundation: A Danish enterprise foundation funding scientific, humanitarian, and social purposes with growing emphasis on biomedical and sustainability research. Comparable as a large private science funder; overlaps thematically with WWTF's Life Sciences and Environment programmes.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vienna-science-and-technology-fund-wwtf

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Vienna Science And Technology Fund (wwtf)