SOLE Seed Grants and Treasure Box Guidelines

Goals

  • The overall funding goal of the platform is to support research dedicated to understanding processes and mechanisms of everyday life stress 
  • The seed grants aim to provide initial funding to two SOLE Co-PIs for larger projects. The (pilot) data generated from the project will form the basis for a larger funding application. It should therefore be evident from the seed grant application that there will be a follow-up application (e.g., FWF, EU). Ideally, both PIs will again be involved in this application.
  • The treasure box aims to allow researchers earlier in their career, who are working in the team of a SOLE Co-PI, to develop and conduct their own studies

Deadline

  • Applications can be submitted continuously throughout the year.
  • Applications are evaluated within four weeks of submission.

Submission

  • To submit your application for a seed grant or for funds from the treasure box, please compile a single PDF and send your application to clara.vornholt@univie.ac.at

Funding and time frame

  • From the treasure box, €2,000 can be awarded per project.
  • For the seed grants, up to €10,000 per project can be awarded.
  • Preferential support will be given to female researchers and persons with special care obligations for children, or persons with special care needs (through preferential funding in the case of two applications of equal quality).
  • Should the reserved funding amount not be fully utilized in one round, it will be carried over to the next round once.

Eligible costs

  • Funding can be provided for material costs, fees for test persons, contracts for work and services, contracts for freelancers, specific software and hardware directly related to the project (if not available from central funds), organization of conferences/workshops at the University of Vienna related to the planned project, travel expenses (exclusively for networking with project partners or research stays to carry out the project).

  •  Personnel costs (employment contracts), with the exception of salaries for student assistants, are not possible.

Application criteria

  • For all grants, proposals must address at least one of the main research questions (link to "what we do") of the platform
  • Independence of the research project: Applicants must plausibly demonstrate that the submitted project is an independently initiated project. Without the funding, it would not be possible or would be difficult to carry out the project
  • Co-financing from other funding sources is possible, but the project is independent of other projects, and in carrying out the project, the applicant takes on the role of project leader (and thus makes all essential decisions independently, but optionally in consultation with other project partners).
  • Applications with formal errors (e.g., going substantially over word limit, not addressing mandatory aspects) will not be evaluated.

Eligible applicants

  • For the seed grants, at least two Co-PIs of the platform have to jointly apply for a grant.
  • All team members of the platform's Co-PIs' research teams can apply for funds from the treasure box.

Funding period

  • Applications for funds are open until May 2025.
  • The duration of the project is fixed for one year, but may be longer (up to 3 years) in exceptional cases and with good reason. A project timetable must be attached to the application. If funding exceeds one year, an explicit justification has to be provided in the application.

Content of the application

  •  For applications for a seed grant: Scientific project description (max. 1,800 words) including
    • Project summary including scientific contributions and how the project addresses a research question of the platform
    • Work program
    • Time schedule
    • Financial plan including requested amount (maximum application amount: €10,000 per project).
  • For applications to the treasure box: Scientific project description (max. 800 words) including
    • Project summary including scientific contributions and how the project addresses a research question of the platform
    • Work program
    • Time schedule
    • Financial plan including requested amount (maximum application amount €2,000 per project).
  • Curriculum vitae (freely selectable format, mentioning previous academic career, current employment, previous third-party funded projects, and publications); only for seed grants, CVs of all co-applicants.
  • Independence and differentiation from other research activities: max. 250 words, including explicit self-declaration that independence of the project exists.
  • Application language: English

Award Criteria

  • The projects will be awarded based on the scientific quality of the research and relevance for everyday stress.
  • The decision is made by a committee which consists of rotating members of the SOLE investigators, who can obtain external expert opinions on a case-by-case basis. In the event of possible partiality bias (such as a “conflict of interest”) in an allocation round, the respective members are replaced by other representatives from the SOLE investigators.
  • There is no legal entitlement to funding. A rejected project can be revised and re-submitted once.
  • Only one application per applicant per award round will be considered.
  • A short report and a statement of account must be submitted no later than 2 months after completion of the project.
  • Any funding budget not used up on a grant date will be carried over to the next possible grant date, and the funding budget available for the respective date will be announced.

Contact and Information

  • For scientific aspects: Speaker of the research platform, Urs Nater, and postdoc at the research platform, Aljoscha Dreisörner.
  • For technical and administrative questions: Organizational assistant, Clara Vornholt.