The next funding awards in the federal government's excellent=austria initiative to expand top-level research at universities and non-academic research institutions have been announced. Following a multi-stage decision-making process including a jury hearing, the FWF's Scientific Board selected five Emerging Fields for funding. Their selection was based on the recommendations of an international jury, which assessed the proposals’ potential for groundbreaking innovation and scientific excellence based on peer reviews from around the world. Over the next three years, the FWF will invest a total of around €31 million in five consortia from Vienna to Innsbruck.
Science Minister Martin Polaschek and FWF President Christof Gattringer congratulate the successful researchers
“As the federal government, we are making targeted investments in the country’s future to help position Austria as one of the leading nations in the global research landscape. Funding the Emerging Fields is proof of our commitment to supporting highly innovative research projects that have the potential to revolutionize their field of research. For this reason, the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research is providing a total of €31 million over five years, administered by the FWF,” says Martin Polaschek, Federal Minister of Education, Science and Research.
“We are aware of the great innovative potential of Austria’s basic research. With the Emerging Fields, we are giving around one hundred outstanding researchers the opportunity to explore particularly high-risk new approaches here in Austria, together with the best in their field. Be it new ways to fight cancer, securing supply chains and their impact on social well-being, or a better understanding of the brain – with these investments, we are further expanding key research areas at Austria's research institutions. The aim is to help highly innovative ideas for a better future achieve a breakthrough,” says FWF President Christof Gattringer.
“I would like to congratulate the FWF on the new Emerging Fields funding program. It’s an extremely exciting program that encourages researchers to work together in new ways, and has the potential to revolutionize existing approaches. The jury was deeply impressed by the creativity, ambition, and diversity of the projects, but also by the commitment of the FWF and the teams themselves to building an inclusive research culture in promising areas. It is clear that the program has already created new synergies and inspired creativity, and we are excited to see how the teams will put their ideas into practice,” said jury chair Aileen Fyfe (University of St Andrews, Scotland), who has been involved in the selection process from the start.
More cooperation among Austria’s leading research institutions
Researchers from 14 universities and non-academic research institutions will be working together in the five new Emerging Fields consortia. The University of Vienna is involved in three Emerging Fields; the Austrian Academy of Sciences is participating in two Emerging Fields with the CeMM – Research Center for Molecular Medicine, the IMBA – Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, and the GMI – Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology; the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), and the Medical University of Vienna are involved in two consortia; and the Central European University, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Complexity Science Hub Vienna, the IMP - Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, the Medical University of Innsbruck, the St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute, and the Vienna University of Economics and Business are each contributing to one Emerging Fields consortium. Each consortium involves teams of up to 30 researchers, working together over a period of five years (with an interim review after three years).
Focus on forward-looking topics such as security of supply, tumor therapies, and evolutionary research
Austria’s new Emerging Fields will advance basic research at the highest scientific level on high-risk research topics with particular potential for innovation: global security of supply, tumor therapies, evolutionary research, neurological research, and new approaches at the interface of mathematics and the theory of relativity. The funding can be used to create attractive conditions for close cooperation at the participating institutions. Researchers are given the freedom to pursue promising approaches and riskier ideas.
REMASS: Resilience and Malleability of Social Metabolism
Consortium members and research institutions
- Helmut Haberl (Coordinator, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna)
- Stefan Giljum (Vienna University of Economics and Business)
- Fridolin Krausmann (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna)
- Shonali Pachauri (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA))
- Anke Schaffartzik (Central European University)
- Cornelia Staritz (University of Vienna)
- Stefan Thurner (Complexity Science Hub)
FWF funding volume: €7.1 million
Crises such as wars, pandemics, and climate extremes destabilize global supply chains. But how do they affect resource use, sustainability, inequality, and social well-being? REMASS addresses these questions with the help of new approaches to researching society’s metabolism, i.e. resource flows and stocks (for example in buildings and infrastructures) and what they contribute to society. REMASS will generate a social metabolism database with unprecedented granularity, allowing researchers to quantify the resilience of the metabolism to supply chain disruptions using big data approaches in complexity research. REMASS will be analyzing the malleability of resource use in three important supply systems (food, housing, and mobility) and identifying key actors, decision-making processes, and power relations.
“The increasing use of natural resources is driving global warming, while at the same time current crises are threatening global supply chains. In our research, we analyze the resilience of resource use and options for making it more sustainable – perhaps we will even find tipping points towards more sustainability and justice,” says Helmut Haberl, coordinator, about the goals of the Emerging Field project.
A New Geometry for Einstein's Theory of Relativity & Beyond
Consortium members and research institutions
- Roland Steinbauer (Coordinator, University of Vienna)
- Michael Kunzinger (University of Vienna)
- Raquel Perales (University of Vienna)
- Chiara Rigoni (University of Vienna)
- Clemens Sämann (University of Vienna)
FWF funding volume: €7 million
Gravity is the curvature of space-time: This is the central message of Einstein’s theory of Relativity, expressed in the mathematical language of Lorentzian differential geometry. However, the latter can only deal with the curvature of smooth surfaces (without edges or vertices), which is often insufficient in physics. Based on the mathematical theories of Metric Geometry and Optimal Transport, in recent decades a concept of curvature has been developed for non-smooth geometries. Our research group has built a bridge from this curvature concept to Lorentzian geometry. The vision is to now address open problems in fundamental physics with this new geometry: singularities in General Relativity and a unifying language for discrete approaches to quantum gravity.
“Einstein's great insight is that gravity is nothing other than the curvature of space-time. Our Emerging Field is developing a completely new approach to spacetime curvature that promises applications in relativity and quantum gravity,” says Roland Steinbauer, coordinator, about the goals of the Emerging Field.
Brain Resilience
Consortium members and research institutions
- Igor Igorevich Adameyko (Coordinator, Medical University of Vienna)
- Christoph Bock (CeMM - Research Center for Molecular Medicine, ÖAW)
- Jürgen A. Knoblich (IMBA - Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, ÖAW)
- Gaia Novarino (Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA))
- Daniela Pollak (Medical University of Vienna)
- Roman A. Romanov (Medical University of Vienna)
FWF funding volume: €6.8 million
The mammalian brain is formed by highly complex developmental processes that are controlled by thousands of genes and their interaction with the prenatal environment. Mutations in the underlying genes can cause a predisposition to various neurodevelopmental disorders. However, many people with a genetic predisposition to neurodevelopmental disorders live a healthy life. This project aims to unravel the molecular processes by which a favorable prenatal environment can reverse a genetic predisposition to neurodevelopmental disorders and enable the development of a healthy brain by strengthening brain resilience.
“The approach in this project is completely novel, as we want to explore the natural mechanisms of brain resilience in order to positively influence the expression of genetically determined changes in brain function and behavior,” says Igor Igorevich Adameyko, coordinator, about the goals of the Emerging Field.
Crucial Steps in Evolution: The Rise of Genome Architecture
Consortium members and research institutions
- Frédéric Berger (Coordinator, GMI - Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, ÖAW)
- Christa Schleper (University of Vienna)
- Florian Schur (Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA))
FWF funding volume: €4.4 million
Where do we come from? How multicellular life forms like plants and animals evolved from single-celled microorganisms, such as bacteria and archaea, is one of the most fundamental and least understood questions in biology. It leaves the mystery of our origins unanswered.
One clue to this question lies in the emergence of a group of proteins that assemble with DNA to form what is called “chromatin.” Chromatin controls gene expression to differentiate the many cell types of complex life forms. We know that chromatin proteins diversified before the origin of multicellular life forms and it is likely that the evolution of chromatin enabled the appearance of complex life forms and enabled them to adapt to the various environmental settings on planet Earth.
The EvoChromo project brings together three experts with interdisciplinary expertise to form a new laboratory across the Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology of the University of Vienna, the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). Together, this team aims to uncover when and how chromatin evolved to give rise to complex life forms.
Lokiarchaeum ossiferum, or “Loki” for short, a recently cultured single-celled microorganism, will be in the focus of our explorations. Loki is part of the Asgard archaea that merged with bacteria two billion years ago, producing the ancestor of complex organisms including humans, animals and plants. The new EvoChromo team will find and characterize chromatin proteins in Loki to reveal how the innovation of chromatin protein in Asgards enabled the diversification of cell types, eventually leading to the evolution of complex multicellular life forms. Revealing such a unique event will change our understanding of the evolution of life on Earth and our own origins.
“Our EvoChromo project will identify the origins of proteins that interact with the genome and have enabled the evolution of all complex life forms on Earth. The research in EvoChromo is based on new experimental strategies and organisms that are integrated in an interdisciplinary research unit,” says Frédéric Berger, coordinator, about the goals of the Emerging Field.
Devising Advanced TCR-T Cells to Eradicate OsteoSarcoma
Consortium members and research institutions
- Johannes Zuber (Coordinator, IMP - Research Institute of Molecular Pathology)
- Johannes B. Huppa (Medical University of Vienna)
- Anna Christina Obenauf (IMP - Research Institute of Molecular Pathology)
- Dietmar Rieder (Medical University of Innsbruck)
- Sabine Taschner-Mandl (St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute)
- Michael Traxlmayr (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna)
FWF funding volume: €5.7 million
Osteosarcoma is an aggressive form of bone cancer that affects over 1,000 children in the EU every year and carries complex genetic mutations. This has hampered the development of targeted drugs, with the result that there has been no progress in clinical therapy for 40 years. The “DART2OS” research project aims to break this deadlock with a new type of cancer therapy that harnesses the power of the human immune system. The team will use state-of-the-art molecular biological methods to characterize mutations that are visible to the immune system. This information is used to develop patient-specific immune cells (so-called TCR-T cells) that can recognize and kill cancer cells. In addition to osteosarcoma, the aim is also to lay the foundations for the development of personalized TCR-T cell therapies for other types of cancer.
“Our team unites experts from different research areas behind a common goal: to make the promising concept of personalized TCR-T cell therapies viable for the treatment of pediatric cancer,” says Johannes Zuber, coordinator, about the goals of the Emerging Field project.
Decision based on international reviews and jury recommendation
To enable an independent decision based on scientific criteria, the FWF organized a three-stage selection process based on a new principle. In a first step, an international, multidisciplinary jury headed by Aileen Fyfe (University of St Andrews, Scotland) assessed each of the 45 applications based on a three-page synopsis, to determine whether they have the potential to implement highly transformative and innovative ideas. Only those applications that passed this initial assessment were then sent out for international review. Based on the results of these reviews, the Scientific Board drew up a shortlist of ten consortia. Shortlisted teams were invited to a hearing to present their proposal to the jury, which then made its funding recommendations. The final funding decisions were made by the FWF Scientific Board on the basis of the jury’s recommendations.