National projects
In the Impact Innovation program, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) promotes the use of innovation methods to solve a problem. Central to this is a process in which a wide range of people are involved in order to find new ideas and develop an effective solution. The result can be services, products or processes that offer added value for the target group.
Applications are open to all research topics - whether traditional or very current fields of technology (e.g. digitalization, climate, environment, mobility, energy, circular economy, eco-technologies, sustainability, decarbonization, etc.). The transformation towards a sustainable economy is also supported.
The Vienna Business Agency provides the Understanding Science funding to assist in communication activities that aim to present research and scientific results in an understandable and easily accessible manner. Interested parties can apply for Understanding Science Funding to cover payroll costs, costs for services, including fees for speakers or knowledge procurement, travel expenses for speakers, moderators, or lecturers, for the purchase of machines or licenses, and for the acquisition of intellectual property rights.
With the #ConnectingMinds program, the Austrian Science Fund FWF encourages researchers to involve non-scientific stakeholders in research projects. Funding is provided for teams that combine scientific and social knowledge in order to meet the social, technological, ecological and economic challenges that lie ahead. Funding is provided in two stages. Four projects with a duration of up to 60 months are expected to be funded from around 15 workshops. Teams of two to five researchers can submit an application to carry out a #ConnectingMinds workshop.
Deadline: February 13, 2025
European projects
Horizon Europe is the new EU research and innovation program of the European Commission (EC) with €95.5 billion in funding for the seven-year period. A good opportunity to familiarise yourself with the EC's funding criteria is to work as a scientific evaluator. You will find all the relevant information on the Portal Funding & Tender Opportunities.
Funding from the European ‘REINFORCING’ project supports organisations to experiment with open science approaches around the topic of ‘responsible digitalisation’ and implement measures to open up their research and innovation processes and align them with societal needs and expectations. In this ‘Booster Call’, eight-month projects will be funded with 20,000 euros each.
Deadline: 30 January 2025
The European Union Prize for Citizen Science 2025 recognizes outstanding projects that promote scientific progress and social development through active citizen participation. A total prize money of 100,000 euros is awarded to initiatives that promote research, innovation and creativity in the service of society. The submission phase began on January 10, 2025 and ends on March 11, 2025. The award ceremony will take place in September 2025 as part of the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz.
One project will be awarded in each of the following categories
- Grand Prize (60,000 euros)
- Diversity & Collaboration Award (20,000 euros)
- Digital Communities Award (20,000 euros)
The prize is awarded by the European Commission as part of the IMPETUS project and organized by Ars Electronica. The aim is to highlight the importance of citizen science for an open and inclusive civil society and to promote excellent initiatives.
Further information on the submission process and the conditions of participation can be found on the Ars Electronica website: ars.electronica.art/citizenscience/de/
The IMPETUS project offers an accelerator program that supports selected citizen science initiatives with training, mentoring and financial support. The program aims to maximize the impact of the projects and support them in a seven-month program. The Accelerator includes a one-week boot camp, online mentoring by citizen science experts, specific training courses and peer learning and networking opportunities. New projects will be supported financially with 20,000 euros and ongoing projects with 10,000 euros. The deadline for submissions is March 13, 2025. Further information is available on the IMPETUS project website: impetus4cs.eu/opencall/
The European Citizen Science Academy is developing a Citizen Science competence framework for Citizen Science researchers and practitioners. Through a participatory process, the aim is to identify what skills are needed in Citizen Science, based on theory but also on practical needs from the field.
Participation is possible as a panelist, reviewer or observer.
Deadline: January 24, 2025
International projects
The funding programme of the Dutch NWO (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) aims to strengthen Citizen Science within Dutch research organizations by establishing Citizen Science Hubs. The hubs are intended to help build capacity and expertise at universities and colleges. Organizations can apply for funding for personnel and material costs.
Deadline: March 14, 2025
Journals
The journal Citizen Science: Theory and Practice invites the submission of abstracts for a special issue. The thematic focus is on the contributions of galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) to participatory science. The editors are looking for articles that highlight innovative approaches, challenges and potential.
Deadline: February 28, 2025
Research articles dealing with different aspects of citizen science in public health can currently be submitted for a Research Topic in the journal “Frontiers in Public Health”. The focus should be on increased participation and innovative formats and results, which can be dealt with in case studies, method descriptions or theory discussions. However, other formats are also possible, e.g. curriculum documents, policy briefs or commentaries.
Deadline: March 23, 2025
Conferences
The Conference for Advancing Participatory Sciences will take place from May 27 to 30, 2025 in Portland (USA). The contributions can concern different aspects of participatory research and can be submitted as presentations or posters. In addition to research results, “lessons learned” and new research projects can also be presented.
Deadline: January 15, 2025
The 6th OIS Research Conference will take place from May 14 to 16, 2025 in Vienna and invites you to discuss the role and value of openness and collaboration in scientific research. The thematic focus 2025 highlights the topic “The Future of Academia-Industry Collaboration”. The focus is on new, dynamic collaboration models between academia and industry. Contributions for the conference program can currently be submitted.
Deadline: January 19, 2025
The upcoming III meeting of the Iberian Ecological Society (SIBECOL) will be held jointly with the XVII National Congress of the Spanish Association of Terrestrial Ecology (AEET) in June 2025.
The congress will take place in Pontevedra from June 2nd to 7th, 2025. Pontevedra has received various awards for its sustainable mobility policies. Leveraging the unique location, the congress has adopted a theme that encourages reflection on our profession and the tasks ahead to improve our daily practices: "Another science is possible: diversity, degrowth, and sustainability in ecological research".
Deadline: January 17, 2025
More Calls
The Georg von Holtzbrinck Prize for Science Journalism honors journalists for their outstanding work in the categories Text, Electronic Media, Short Form and Young Talent. The work submitted should be generally understandable and contribute to the popularization of scientific facts. The decisive factor is the original journalistic treatment of current scientific topics. All journalists publishing in German-language media are eligible to participate.
Deadline: March 30, 2025