Wittgenstein Award

The Wittgenstein Award provides both recognition and support to excellent scholars/scientists (up to 60 years of age) who have already produced exceptional scientific work and who occupy a prominent place in the international scientific community. The Wittgenstein Award is the most generously supported research programme in Austria. As such, it attracts considerable media attention and thus contributes significantly to the understanding and acceptance of scientific research by society.

• Ecology and Evolution of Archaea, Environmental Genomics (2022-2027)
  PI: Christa Schleper (Dep. of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology) | press release

• Microbial Oceanography, Marine Biogeochemistry (2011-2016)
  PI: Gerhard J. Herndl (Dep. of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology) | press release

START Grants

The START programme supports outstanding young researchers of any discipline with two or more years research experience as postdocs. They are given the long-term and extensive financial security to plan their research and either build up or consolidate their own research groups thereby qualifying themselves for a leading position in the academic system (especially as university professors within Austria or abroad).

• Acceleration for Food
  PI: Petra Sumasgutner (Dep. of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology) | press release

• Evolution through recurrent allopolyploidization (2013-2019)
  PI: Ovidiu Paun (Dep. of Botany and Biodiversity Research)

• Raven politics: Understanding and use of social relations (2008-2014)
  PI: Thomas Bugnyar (Dep. of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology)