Guide · 9 min read

AEI Spain Research Grants 2026: Proyectos de Generación de Conocimiento Guide

AEI’s Proyectos de Generación de Conocimiento (PGC) is the main bottom-up research-funding line in Spain. Around 30% of submitted proposals are funded across two modalities. This guide covers the eligibility, the proposal structure, and what reviewers actually score.

1. The two modalities

• Investigación No Orientada — bottom-up, any topic. Single PI or two PIs.
• Investigación Orientada — aligned with strategic priorities (health, energy, digital, climate). Project must address a societal challenge.

Both modalities have two sub-types: Tipo A (junior PI — up to 10 years post-PhD) and Tipo B (senior PI). Tipo A has separate review and funding pool — competition is among junior PIs only.

2. Funding

Typical project budget: €60,000–€300,000 over 3–4 years. Covers PhD contracts, technical staff, equipment (up to 25% of budget), consumables, travel. Most successful proposals run at €120,000–€200,000.

3. Eligibility

The PI must be employed at a Spanish R&I institution. Foreign PIs welcome if they relocate. Tipo A requires ≤10 years post-PhD on 31 December of the call year. Career interruptions (parental leave, illness) extend the eligibility window.

Each researcher can be PI on at most one PGC project at a time and member of at most three.

4. Submission cycle

Annual call. Typical timeline:

• Call publication: late summer
• Submission deadline: October–November
• Decision: July following year
• Funding starts: September

5. The proposal

Submitted through the AEI portal in Spanish. Length is 20 pages for the scientific memory plus annexes. Structure:

• Estado del arte (3–4 pages) — current understanding, your group’s position.
• Hipótesis y objetivos (1–2 pages) — clear hypothesis and 3–5 specific objectives.
• Metodología (8–10 pages) — organised by objective, with risks and alternatives.
• Plan de trabajo (2–3 pages) — Gantt, work packages, deliverables.
• Impacto y transferencia (1–2 pages) — dissemination, transfer, gender plan, data management.

6. Evaluation

Two stages:

• External reviewers — 2–3 international experts score the proposal.
• National panel (Comité de Selección) — harmonises scores and ranks proposals.

Scoring criteria (weights):

• Calidad científico-técnica del proyecto (40%)
• Trayectoria del equipo (30%)
• Impacto y plan de difusión (20%)
• Adecuación de medios y presupuesto (10%)

Cut-line for Tipo A typically around 7.0/10; Tipo B around 7.5/10.

7. Common reasons for decline

• Hipótesis weak or stated as “estudiar” rather than as a falsifiable claim.
• Methodology described as a list of techniques rather than as a chain of inference.
• Trayectoria with broad publication list but few papers connecting to the project area.
• Gender plan and data management plan as boilerplate rather than integrated.
• Budget request not aligned with the workplan (too high or too low).

8. Tips

• Submit in Spanish — reviewers are mostly Spanish-speaking, English is allowed but rarely improves scores.
• For Tipo A, the trayectoria section should highlight 5 best papers with explicit positioning.
• Open-science section: list specific repositories, data access timelines, code-sharing plans.
• Get a senior colleague who has been a member of a Comité de Selección to read the draft.

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