Austria: WE&ME Foundation (formerly TEMPI-Stiftung, TEMPI-Foundation)

Translated into English from https://www.weandmecfs.org/news/gem...-award-unterstützt-forschung-mit-450-000-euro

Together Against ME/CFS: WE&ME Award Supports Research with €450,000

With the newly established WE&ME Award, the WE&ME Foundation is providing €450,000 for the scientific investigation of ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). The funding amount was made available via the alpha+ Foundation of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and ranks among the highest privately funded research awards in Austria.

The goal of the award is to enable excellent research projects at Austrian universities and non-university research institutions, in order to gain fundamental insights into the causes, mechanisms, and potential therapeutic approaches for ME/CFS and related post-viral illnesses. The focus is particularly on biomedical studies that adhere to strict international diagnostic criteria (CCC/ICC).

Submissions will be accepted from July to October 2025. The selection of eligible projects will be carried out by the FWF through internationally recognized peer-review procedures. The final funding decisions will be made by the WE&ME Foundation based on the recommendations of the FWF board.

According to current estimates, ME/CFS affects up to 80,000 people in Austria. Particularly young, previously healthy individuals often suffer from severe, long-lasting symptoms. Despite the high disease burden, ME/CFS remains under-researched and medically underserved.

With the WE&ME Award, the foundation is setting another strong signal for the promotion of basic research, following its cooperation with the WWTF in 2024. The collaboration with the FWF is a targeted effort to strengthen Austria as a hub for scientific research and invites both national and international researchers to contribute their expertise to the study of this long-neglected illness.
 
This is one of the projects they are currently funding: https://www.wwtf.at/funding/programmes/ei/ME-CFS24-002/

Currently, there is no consensus on the genetic foundations of ME/CFS, although its heritability estimated at up to 50%. While a large-scale GWAS is ongoing in a dedicated ME/CFS cohort (DECODE-ME), our project will complement this by focusing on rare genetic variants. Thus, the aim of this research project is to provide a list of causal genes for ME/CFS to facilitate further testing and characterization in collaboration with clinical researchers and wet lab biologists.

This opportunity arises from the recent availability of whole genome sequencing data from large-scale biobanks such as UK Biobank and All of Us. We can now categorize all protein-altering variants within a gene or other genomic structures like transcription factor binding sites and evaluate their collective impact on ME/CFS. We will utilize the International Consensus Criteria to define cases, however we will also conduct sensitivity analyses around the phenotype definition, and extend our analyses to include long COVID phenotypes within the cohorts mentioned above.

Our primary analysis will be a meta-analysis of data from the UK Biobank and All of Us, which we will, depending on availability, also attempt to replicate using imputed data from the DECODE-ME cohort. This will not only provide the most extensive analysis of rare variants in ME/CFS to date enhancing our knowledge of the condition's causal genes and pathways, but it will also establish a dataspace and collaborative framework for clustering, factor analysis, and other exploratory and epidemiological studies, which we think are essential to fully understand this complex condition. These analyses could also inform subsequent rounds of genetic association tests. Ultimately, the outcomes of these tests may enable stratification of patients and facilitate the categorization of patients into specific subgroups.
 
And these are all projects currently funded. All of them will conclude next year (links removed)

https://www.weandmecfs.org/research...-sieben-projekte-zu-me-cfs-erhalten-förderung

ME-CFS24-001 Kathryn Hoffmann (Medical University of Vienna)
Adult patients with severe and very severe ME/CFS in Austria. A multi-perspective study.
Duration: 15 months, Funding amount: €99,752

ME-CFS24-002 Matthias Wielscher (Medical University of Vienna)
Genetic architecture of chronic fatigue syndrome
Duration: 12 months, Funding amount: €99,797

ME-CFS24-003 Thomas Vogl (Medical University of Vienna)
Deciphering systemic and mucosal antibody repertoires against the microbiota in ME/CFS and PCC
Duration: 15 months, Funding amount: €99,426

ME-CFS24-004 Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber (Medical University of Vienna)
The impact of mast cell activation on epithelial and endothelial barrier dysregulation in post-infectious ME/CFS
Duration: 12 months, Funding amount: €99,992

ME-CFS24-007 Martin Krssak (Medical University of Vienna)
The role of the skeletal muscle and myocardial metabolism in ME/CFS: in vivo MRS study.
Duration: 15 months, Funding amount: €99,982

ME-CFS24-016 Davide Ret (TU Wien)
Exploring the Glycome: Identifying Glycosylation-Related Biomarkers for severity stratification in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Duration: 12 months, Funding amount: €99,946

ME-CFS24-018 Lukas Haider (Medical University of Vienna)
Investigating Cerebral Oxygen Metabolism Dysfunction as a pathomechanism of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Duration: 14 months, Funding amount: €96,550
 
From Christoph Ströck, severe pwME and son of the founders of this wonderful foundation on Twitter.
It’s his birthday wish that they make it to 1000 newsletter subscribers by 21. August 2026:
www.weandmecfs.org

Bleiben Sie informiert! • WE & ME Stiftung

Die Auseinandersetzung mit ME/CFS erfordert Ausdauer, fundierte Informationen und eine starke Gemeinschaft. Mit unserem Newsletter möchten wir Ihnen eine
www.weandmecfs.org www.weandmecfs.org

Machine translation:
Christoph Ströck
@cstroeckw
May 22

NEW NEWSLETTER!
My sister‑in‑law Caroline Ströck (@CarolineStroeck) puts an incredible amount of energy—completely voluntarily and in her free time—into the entire WE&ME online presence.Now she has also launched a newsletter, and I would be very happy if we could gather as many sign‑ups as possible.

The newsletter is published only quarterly, possibly supplemented by 1–2 additional fundraising updates per year. So definitely not spam.

By my birthday on August 21, I have one big wish: that together we reach 1,000 newsletter sign‑ups. I would be truly grateful to everyone who signs up or recommends the newsletter to others.

Link in the comments!
Click to expand...

German original:
Christoph Ströck
@cstroeckw
May 22
NEUER NEWSLETTER!
Meine Schwägerin Caroline Ströck (@CarolineStroeck) steckt unglaublich viel Energie komplett ehrenamtlich und in ihrer Freizeit in den gesamten WE&ME Online-Auftritt.
Jetzt hat sie zusätzlich auch noch einen Newsletter gestartet, und ich würde mich sehr freuen, wenn wir dafür möglichst viele Anmeldungen schaffen.
Der Newsletter erscheint nur quartalsweise, eventuell ergänzt durch 1–2 zusätzliche Fundraising-Updates pro Jahr.
Also definitiv kein Spam.
Bis zu meinem Geburtstag am 21. August hätte ich einen großen Wunsch: dass wir gemeinsam 1000 Newsletter-Anmeldungen erreichen.
Ich wäre wirklich jedem dankbar, der sich anmeldet oder den Newsletter weiterempfiehlt.
Link in comments!
Click to expand...
 
Funding opportunity:

www.weandmecfs.org

WE&ME Projects • WE&ME Stiftung

Scope of the Call This call is open to research teams that aim to advance our understanding of the biological mechanisms of Myalgic
www.weandmecfs.org www.weandmecfs.org

Core team of two or three Principal Investigators (PIs)

All PIs must be based at a university, non-university research institution, or other

eligible non-profit research organisation

Open internationally; no geographic restrictions on the host institution

Industry partners may collaborate in-kind but cannot be funded

Early-career researchers and applicants with career breaks are explicitly encouraged

Project budget: EUR 120,000 to EUR 180,000 per project

@jnmaciuch
@DMissa
 
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"Major news for ME/CFS research:


WE&ME has launched a new research call worth over €1 million in total funding, supporting around 7 biomedical ME/CFS projects.


What makes this especially notable, alongside the substantial funding volume from a foundation in a small country, is the degree of patient involvement. Members of the Science for ME (@s4me_info) community were heavily involved in shaping the call and will also play a major role in the review and jury process, helping guide funding decisions themselves. At the same time, the process includes internationally respected ME/CFS experts whose judgment and expertise I trust deeply.


I may be wrong, but this could be one of the most patient-driven biomedical ME/CFS research funding calls of this scale to date.


A huge thank you to everyone involved: the patients, patient advocates, researchers, WE&ME, the WWTF team around Benjamin Missbach, and all partners who helped make this possible.


Most importantly, thank you to everyone who fundraised for or donated to WE&ME. This is where your money is going: directly into new biomedical ME/CFS research.


Please share as much as possible!"
 
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Amw66 said:
What makes this especially notable, alongside the substantial funding volume from a foundation in a small country, is the degree of patient involvement. Members of the Science for ME (@s4me_info) community were heavily involved in shaping the call and will also play a major role in the review and jury process, helping guide funding decisions themselves. At the same time, the process includes internationally respected ME/CFS experts whose judgment and expertise I trust.
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I wasn’t aware of this! Fantastic news.
 
From the full document:
Note: If invited to submit a full proposal, you will have the opportunity to partake in an open discussion on the S4ME forum to receive feedback from patients and carers. This will be a unique opportunity to bring your proposal to the next level and avoid tokenistic approaches. S4ME will make sure that the discussion will be fair.
Click to expand...
This is exciting!

It might be more accurate to say that the feedback will be from members, which includes patients and carers (but also researchers and healthcare professionals).

If there are seven projects mid nov/dec might become busy!
 
The committee has made an announcement about the forum's collaboration with WE&ME on a research fund and early stage researcher award:

The forum committee is very pleased to announce a collaboration with the well-respected ME/CFS foundation WE&ME. We've been excited about this for a while; it's great to be able to share the news with you.


An international research fund and an early stage researcher award
WE&ME has launched a new research call worth over €1 million in total funding, supporting around seven biomedical ME/CFS projects. It is expected that some of the teams awarded funds in this first process will receive further funds in a second process in two years.
See the WE&ME website for more information - here. Short proposals need to be submitted by 25 August 2026.

WE&ME has also announced the Emerging Leader Award, providing two awards of EUR 5,000 each to early stage researchers actively working on ME/CFS and related illnesses - see here. The application deadline is October 2026.


Patient involvement
Members of the Science for ME community were involved in shaping the call and will also play a major role in the review and jury process. The Science for ME committee nominated the patient panel members, three out of the seven voting panel members. We have a further two non-voting forum representatives taking part in the process and available to step in should any of the voting patient members not be able to carry out their duties. The panel membership is confidential. However, the committee is satisfied that the panel is well qualified and will make very good recommendations about which projects should be funded.


Ongoing collaboration
The forum committee hopes that this is the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with WE&ME, supporting new ideas and new researchers in ME/CFS research.

The forum committee has entered into a memorandum of understanding to support WE&ME in these projects, including by promoting the research fund. This agreement does not affect members' ability to express their views on the forum about any organisation, research team or research. The voting patient panel members and backups have the option to receive payment for their work.


How you can help
We hope that forum members who are in a position to donate to research will consider supporting this initiative - donate here.

Please share the news of the call for research proposals with good researchers, both those already working on ME/CFS and others who can bring new expertise and ideas to the field. High quality proposals will help ensure the success of the research fund. Patient participation is one of the evaluation criteria of proposals - successful applicants will go beyond tokenistic patient participation. We hope many forum members will be involved in the submitted research proposals in some way.


Thanks
Many thanks to the WE&ME Foundation for their ongoing commitment to supporting good ME/CFS research and to ensuring that people with ME/CFS are part of the process. Thanks also to the team at the Vienna Science and Technology Funds (WWTF) who have been doing much of the work to pull these funding opportunities together, notably Ben Missbach. Particular thanks to the forum member and person with ME/CFS who is part of the WE&ME Foundation who helped us get the collaboration started and to the forum members and researchers who agreed to be part of the fund's evaluation panel.
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To discuss the fund and the collaboration, go to the dedicated thread here.
 
I’ve been going through their webpage in English following the recent annoucements.

I can see that they endorse both MCAS and hEDS as frequently occurring in ME/CFS:

Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS):​

MCAS is an immunological disorder in which mast cells inappropriately and excessively release chemicals such as histamine, leading to symptoms in the skin, gastrointestinal tract, heart, respiratory tract and nervous system
Click to expand...

Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS):​

The main feature of hEDS is hypermobility of the joints caused by damaged connective tissue. Characteristic symptoms include joint pain and orthostatic intolerance. Many patients also suffer from chronic fatigue. Conversely, around 20% of people with ME/CFS fulfill the diagnostic criteria for hEDS.
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This is their intro about pathology:
Due to the heterogeneity of the disease and decades of under-research, the pathology of ME/CFS remains poorly understood. Although many studies show pathophysiological abnormalities, e.g. in energy metabolism, the immune system and the vascular system, there is no validated biomarker that can be used for diagnosis.
Click to expand...
www.weandmecfs.org

What is ME/CFS? • WE&ME Stiftung

Raising awareness, funds and support for #ME/CFS.
www.weandmecfs.org www.weandmecfs.org

The info on the website seems good in general, but I think these points could changed. MCAS and hEDS has nothing to do with ME/CFS and really isn’t doing us any favours, and the bit about pathology goes beyond the evidence. IMO, they should replace it with something about genetics pointing towards neuronal and immune involvement and leave it at that.
 
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