OSTERREICHISCHE FORSCHUNGSFORDERUNGSGESELLSCHAFT MBH

Their core work

FFG is Austria's national research funding and promotion agency, acting as the central hub for managing National Contact Points (NCPs) across virtually all Horizon 2020 programme areas. They coordinate ERA-NET Cofund actions that align national funding programmes with European research priorities in energy, materials, climate, and other domains. Beyond funding, FFG provides innovation management services to SMEs, organizes brokerage events, delivers training to NCP networks across Europe, and facilitates international S&T cooperation with countries like China, Brazil, and the USA. Their role is fundamentally that of a system integrator — connecting national research ecosystems with European funding instruments.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2014–2017), FFG focused on establishing and professionalizing NCP networks across health, energy, ICT, and research infrastructures, while building international cooperation channels with China and Brazil. From 2018 onward, their emphasis shifted toward SME innovation management, business coaching, capacity building for widening countries, and scaling up ERA-NET Cofund operations in materials, quantum technologies, and photonics. The trend shows a move from network-building and training toward more direct innovation support services and strategic programme management.

FFG is shifting from passive NCP coordination toward active innovation management and SME business coaching, making them an increasingly valuable partner for projects that need structured access to Austria's research and industry ecosystem.

How they like to work

FFG overwhelmingly participates as a partner (56 of 67 projects) rather than leading consortia, though they coordinate strategically important meta-networks like ERA-LEARN 2020 and M-ERA.NET 2. With 406 unique partners across 74 countries, they function as a high-connectivity hub — rarely repeating the same consortium, instead linking different communities. Working with FFG means gaining access to Austria's entire national research funding landscape and their pan-European NCP network.

FFG maintains one of the broadest networks in the H2020 ecosystem with 406 unique consortium partners spanning 74 countries — well beyond Europe into Asia, Latin America, and North America. Their geographic reach reflects their dual role as Austria's national funding body and a connector between European and international research programmes.

What sets them apart

FFG is not a research performer — they are the gateway to Austria's national R&D funding system, which makes them uniquely valuable for any consortium that needs Austrian participation, co-funding alignment, or access to Austrian SMEs and research institutions. Their simultaneous involvement in NCP networks across all H2020 pillars gives them unmatched cross-thematic visibility into European funding opportunities. For consortium builders, FFG brings institutional credibility, programme management expertise, and the ability to mobilize national co-funding through ERA-NET mechanisms.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ERA-LEARN 2020
  FFG coordinated this meta-network that monitors and supports ALL public-public partnerships (ERA-NETs, JPIs) in Europe — a unique birds-eye-view position over the entire ERA-NET landscape.
• ERANet SmartGridPlus
  FFG's largest single H2020 grant (EUR 1.54M), coordinating transnational smart grid research across European regions — their deepest operational involvement in energy technology.
• M-ERA.NET 2
  FFG coordinated this EUR 1.39M ERA-NET for materials research and innovation, managing international cooperation across the full materials innovation chain from research to application.