The Social Observatory of ”la Caixa” Foundation launches an open and competitive call to fund excellent, innovative and socially-oriented research projects. Proposals must generate new knowledge to broaden our understanding of the major challenges of today’s society, using quantitative methods.
Proposals will be submitted from 7 to 22 January 2026 and will be structured through a two-stage procedure.
Information session:
GOALS
This call will support excellent social research projects that rely on robust quantitative evidence and an original and innovative approach to provide robust information to better understand current and emerging social challenges.
Projects must be focused on Spain and/or Portugal.
GRANTS
Up to €115,000 per project and up to 24 months duration
WHO CAN APPLY?
The call is open to researchers who hold a PhD awarded more than 2 years before the call deadline as written in the Rules for participation (i.e. before 22nd January 2024).
The call is aimed at supporting proposals led by individual researchers of any nationality who conduct their research activity at a non-profit organization: public or private university or research centre legally based in Spain or Portugal.
CALENDAR
Phase 1 - Application period (short proposals)
Opening of the submission period for short proposals: 7th January 2026
Submission deadline: 22nd January 2026, at 2 pm CET
Evaluation of short proposals: February - March 2026
Phase 2 - Pre-selected proposals (full proposals)
Opening of submission period for full proposals: March 2026
Submission deadline: 23rd April 2026, at 13:00 CET
Evaluation phase 2.1: May 2026
Evaluation phase 2.2 (interviews): 18th-19th June 2026
Announcement of funded projects: July 2026
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
The submission of proposals is structured incrementally through a two-phase procedure. Applicants will first submit a 3-page short proposal describing the research idea and the social challenge(s) addressed, taking into consideration its novel and innovative aspects.
Applicants with successful short proposals will be invited to submit a full proposal of up to 15 pages providing detailed information on the project and the methodology. At this stage, applicants will also be required to submit a brief document regarding their research expertise and social and public sector expertise (1 page each).
Both proposals and the documents required must be submitted in English. All information regarding this programme will be exclusively available in English.
CONTACT
For any questions or queries please send an email to: [email protected]
