RISE Europe
RISE Europe supports outstanding researchers with innovative projects across all disciplines in Austria, funding excellent research to strengthen scientific independence and long-term academic careers.
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Funder: Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
Due Dates: October 15, 2026 (Applications open) | November 19, 2026, 2:00 pm Vienna local time (Submission deadline)
Funding Amounts: Up to €1 million per project for five years (60 months), under FWF ASTRA funding rules
Summary: Supports excellent but unfunded ERC Starting Grant 2026 projects to be carried out in Austria.
Key Information: Only projects submitted to ERC Starting Grants 2026 with an Austrian research institution and rated “A – but not funded” qualify.
Description
RISE Europe is administered by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) with financing from the Fonds Zukunft Österreich. It supports innovative projects across all disciplines that met the European Research Council’s excellence criteria but could not receive funding because of budget constraints. Projects must have concisely defined objectives and methodology and be carried out in Austria.
The initiative aims to retain outstanding researchers at career level R3, strengthen their scientific independence, and help them establish long-term academic careers and qualify for leadership positions, particularly professorships. RISE Europe uses the ERC’s existing review and evaluation rather than initiating a new FWF scientific review. It is a limited-time initiative exclusively for eligible proposals from the ERC Starting Grant 2026 call.
