The main objective of the “TU Austria: Initiation and application phase Funding for Joint EU Proposals” is to encourage the cooperation between TU Austria universities in EU calls for project proposals under Pillar 2 “Global Challenges and Europe's Industrial Competitiveness” and Pillar 3 “Innovative Europe” of the Horizon Europe program. In order to be eligible to apply for funding, a TU Austria team has to consist of at least two TU Austria partner universities, with one ideally acting as the project coordinator. 

If this criterion is met, the team can jointly apply for a total funding in the amount of €20,000 (€25.000 if all three TU Austria university are partners) as financial support for the preparation of a Horizon Europe project proposal.

Framework conditions:

Funding of up to €15,000 is available for co-ordinators of a proposal, 
and up to €5,000 for partners participating in the proposal.

• All scientists/employees at TU Austria universities are eligible to participate.
• The consortium consists of at least two TU Austria universities.
• In the project proposal, each TU Austria university must apply for and foresee a budget of at least €300,000 in total costs in order to be eligible for funding under this scheme.
• Priority will be given to projects where one of the TU Austria universities acts as coordinator.
• All incurred costs related to the preparation of the Horizon Europe project proposal are eligible for funding (e.g. personnel costs, consultants, meeting costs).

The Horizon Europe project proposal submitted via the Funding and Tenders Portal, for which 
funding has been received under this scheme, must be presented by April 2026. Failure to provide
this proof of completion and successful submission will result in the full amount of the grant being
returned (possibly reimbursed by the Institute).

Project proposals that are already in the final stages of preparation and close to submission, or
those that have already been submitted, are not eligible for funding under this scheme.
Additionally, projects that have already received or are receiving funding under another university
support programme are also not eligible for funding.

Submission

Please use the provided application form and submit your project proposal to the respective
universities involved in the application:

Montanuniversität Leoben: Submissions to: karin.rehatschek@unileoben.ac.at

Evaluation Criteria

The applications will be assessed based on the following criteria:

• Match between the requirements of the call and the project outline
• Quality of the planned consortium
• Scientific role of the TU Austria partners within the consortium
• Contribution of the project to the profile development of the participating universities and TU Austria

Final decisions will be made by the Vice Rectors for Research of the respective TU Austria Partner
Universities.

Specifications for each university:

TU Wien
Please contact FÖWI well in advance of your application.

Montanuniversitäten Leoben

All research topics relevant to the Montanuniversität Leoben are permitted, as long as they fit the
respective Horizon Europe (Pillar 2 and Pillar 3) call topics. Young researchers (young postdocs)
in particular are encouraged to submit applications via the form.

Graz University of Technology
Please contact Research & Technology House.