FWF | #Connecting Minds
With the #ConnectingMinds program, the Austrian Science Fund FWF encourages researchers to involve non-academic stakeholders in their research projects. Funding is available to teams that combine both academic and social knowledge and are applying them to help tackle social, technological, ecological, and economic challenges.
The focus is on transdisciplinarity, innovative research approaches, and support for community engagement and collective learning spaces.
Target group
The program is aimed at consortia of two to five internationally outstanding researchers at one or more Austrian research institutions.
Funding goals
The goal of the program is to give researchers the opportunity to initiate cooperative research projects that combine academic and social knowledge (transdisciplinary research). Funding is available for projects focusing on highly relevant current and future social topics, which will generate new research findings while also possibly identifying solutions to complex challenges. As a result, knowledge from different groups of people in society is interlinked with research activities, strengthening the dialog between science and society. Funding researchers’ capacity-building in transdisciplinary research is intended to support the application of a methodologically sound transdisciplinary research process.
Funding period and funding amount
• #ConnectingMinds workshop: 1–3 days
• #ConnectingMinds workshop: maximum €12,000
• #ConnectingMinds project: maximum 60 months
• #ConnectingMinds project: maximum €1.25 million
Prerequisites
- Consortium of two to five researchers or arts-based researchers with research qualifications that meet FWF standards
- High scientific quality by international standards
- Innovative research approach that addresses a social issue as well as one or more specific challenges and develops possible solutions
- Application of a transdisciplinary research process with the possibility of involving non-academic participants
- Proposals should demonstrate a thematic relevance to one or more of the thematic groups named above
Events
Dec. 10, 2024: FWF Webinar: Focus on #ConnectingMinds
Dec. 19, 2024: Virtual FWF Training: Transdisciplinary Research – Success Factors and Methods for Societal and Scientific Impact
Jan. 15, 2025: FWF Webinar: Focus on #ConnectingMinds
Further information at: https://www.fwf.ac.at/en/funding/portfolio/collaborations/connectingminds