It includes an increase of 50 million euros compared to 2019, in accordance with the Emergency Plan for Science and Innovation presented last July

With two categories—“Knowledge Generation” and “Research Challenges”—it is the most important call for proposals for the scientific community, in terms of funding and the diversity of fields covered

The Council of Ministers today approved the authorization to publish the main call for R&D&I proposals from “ Projects ,” which will be funded by the State Research Agency (AEI) in the amount of 412 million euros. This call for proposals, the most important for the Spanish scientific community, includes a €50 million increase in funding compared to 2019, which is part of the Emergency Plan for Science and Innovation approved last July.

This increase in funding for research Projects is part of the effort to transform the Science and Innovation System and to attract and retain talent, one of the central pillars of the Emergency Plan. Specifically, it is part of a set of measures to increase funding for research groups in our country, following a decade of budget cuts.

Projects ’s R&D&I call for proposals is the most important for the scientific community due to the quality of the research Projects , the diversity of scientific fields, and the amount of funding. It consists of two categories, “Knowledge Generation” and “Research Challenges,” which, since 2019, have been published under a single call for proposals and a single budget, with the goal of allocating funding more efficiently based on the quality of the proposals, for both basic and applied research.

The “Knowledge Generation” category encompasses research- Projects s without a predefined thematic focus, which are driven by scientific curiosity and have as their primary objective the advancement of knowledge, regardless of the time horizon or scope of application. Meanwhile, under “Research Challenges,” research Projects —as well as their applications in subsequent phases of technological development and experimentation—are geared toward solving problems linked to the major societal challenges included in the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation.

In the coming weeks, the government plans to approve the calls for applications for grants under the Ramón y Cajal and “ Juan de la Cierva ” postdoctoral programs, which will also see an increase in funding this year. Specifically, they will receive 28 million euros more than in 2019—a 30% increase—bringing the total funding for these grants to 121.9 million euros.

These budgets include the consolidation of the 50 million euro increase for the R&D&I call for proposals at Projects , as well as new calls for scientific and technical equipment, totaling 180 million euros, which are also provided for in the Emergency Plan. In addition, they allocate an additional 78 million euros to research Projects aimed at knowledge transfer and European cooperation.

🔗 More information: GlobAqua