Internships for female students: FAQ for companies

• Companies and non-university research institutions
• based in Austria and active in research and development in the natural sciences or technology

The internship must be embedded in the RTI activities of the company or non-university research institution and correspond to the student's education. The student will work on high-quality tasks within the RTI activities.

No insolvency proceedings are pending against the company or non-university research institution.

A maximum of 30 applications per organisation can be approved in this call for proposals. If companies or non-university research institutions are affiliated with other organisations, their applications will be added together and will also be subject to this cap (information on the review of affiliated companies or organisations).

• The female student must be enrolled in a natural science or technical degree programme at an Austrian university or university of applied sciences during the internship.
• The female student must have completed at least one semester at a university or university of applied sciences before starting the internship.
• The intern is not permitted to take a leave of absence from her studies during the internship.
• The internship can also be completed by female students as part of their final thesis (e.g. diploma, master's, bachelor's).

• The gross monthly salary is at least €1,400. All other regular or irregular financial benefits (e.g. special payments, profit sharing, commissions, bonuses, allowances) are not included in the gross monthly salary of €1,400. These must be paid in addition, if required (e.g. according to a collective agreement).
• The earliest possible date for the start of the internship (start of the student's employment) is the date on which the funding application is submitted.
• The student must be employed on a permanent basis during their internship (no contract for work, no freelance contract). The minimum working hours must be 28.5 hours per week.
• The intern must not have been employed by the submitting organisation in the six months prior to the start of the internship.

The student must be supervised by a suitably qualified person (specialist in natural sciences and technology or equivalent) for at least 28 hours in the first month and at least 14 hours from the second month onwards.

A student can only complete one internship in the same company per advertisement. However, it is possible to complete several internships in succession in different companies.

Any employment in the same company prior to the start of the internship must have ended at least six months ago.

Example: The internship begins on 17 August. This means that 16 February of the same year is the last day on which the student may have been employed by the submitting organisation.

The internship can begin at the earliest on the day on which the funding application is submitted.

Internships advertised in 2025 can take place until 31 July 2026 at the latest (= end of the funding period).

Internships advertised in 2026 can take place until 31 July 2027 at the latest (= end of the funding period).

The scope of employment must be at least 28.5 hours per week throughout the entire internship. The scope of employment may also be higher. You can achieve greater flexibility in working hours with a flexitime arrangement.

• Clear internship and project description: List the specific activities that the intern will perform so that we can see that it is a high-quality and eligible internship in the field of research and development in technology or natural sciences.
• Please also specify how the internship is integrated into the company's RTI activities.

After a positive evaluation, the FFG sends a conditional funding commitment to the applicants.

A contractual relationship is established upon fulfilment of the conditions of the funding commitment.

The following conditions must be met:

• Fulfilment of the criteria set out in the call for proposals.
• Submission of the final report after project completion.

After the end of the project, a final report must be submitted in eCall. To do this, the required fields must be completed in full and any data corrected if necessary. In the event of a random check, additional supporting documents must be uploaded as PDF files.

• The student's registration with the social security institution.
• The payslip for the last month of the internship or the student's annual wage account. The wage slip and contribution basis statement (L16) are not acceptable as supporting documents.

The funding will be paid out after the final report has been reviewed, i.e. after the internship has been completed. The FFG has the right to check the information for legality and accuracy throughout the entire project and especially during the final report review.

If all the criteria in the call for applications are met, the chances of receiving funding for an internship are very good.

As demand for this funding is high but funds are limited, we recommend submitting your application as soon as possible once all the necessary information is available. It is possible that the call for applications may be closed before the planned deadline due to funds being exhausted.

• We are interested in your experiences and therefore ask you to provide us with feedback when preparing the final report. Your feedback will help us to improve our funding programme. Thank you very much!
• If you have had particularly positive experiences that would be suitable for a success story, we would be delighted to hear from you directly.

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