- The call published today in the Bocyl by the Ministry of Education will allow the funding of strategic research plans and programs for four years and improvement plans for two years
- Applications and necessary documents can be submitted until May 30
- These grants are part of the Regional Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization (RIS3) of Castilla y León 2021-2027 and will be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund
May 5, 2025
Castilla y León | Ministry of Education
The Ministry of Education contributes to the objectives of the Regional Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization (RIS3) of Castilla y León 2021-2027 by supporting excellence research to improve and strengthen the scientific ecosystem of the Community. This leadership results in a greater capacity to successfully address social and economic challenges in a globalized scenario, contributing to enhancing the competitiveness of economic sectors, such as the industrial sector, with advancements in next-generation technologies.
Therefore, the regional government is once again calling for grants to finance the development of strategic research plans and programs and improvement programs by research structures that demonstrate international capacity and impact, but need to take another step to reach national and international standards for centers and units of research excellence in the short term.
The budget for this call amounts to 5,925,000 euros, an increase of 1,775,000 compared to the previous one. Beneficiaries may include public universities in Castilla y León, public research centers or organizations located in the Community, and other centers with their own legal personality and non-profit foundations based in Castilla y León that have, within the purposes and activities of their statutes, the execution of research activities, as well as carrying out their work through personnel with demonstrable employment ties to the same.
In particular, two distinct lines of support have been designed for research structures of excellence. On one hand, grants for centers or units of excellence applying for the first time to the call to develop strategic research plans or programs, both lasting four years, can receive a grant of up to 2.1 million euros for plans and 850,000 euros for programs.
On the other hand, grants aimed at developing improvement programs by centers and units that, having previously received these grants, have applied (without being selected) to the national program of ‘Severo Ochoa Centers of Excellence’ and ‘María de Maeztu Units of Excellence’ in any of the two previous editions. In this case, the execution period for improvement programs will be two years, and they will present the evaluation received from the Ministry along with an improvement program. For these lines, a maximum grant of one million euros can be accessed for improvement programs to be implemented by research centers, and 425,000 for those implemented by research units.
In this call, as a novelty, it is considered advisable to separately resolve the granting of grants for each of the two avenues, through separate partial resolutions. The deadline for submitting applications will remain open until May 30.