Spain

EUP OHAMR joint transnational call 2026: National rules and requirements for applicants from Spain.

The information below of the national rules and requirements is only a summary. Please visit the national websites and contact the respective national contact person for full details.

Instituto Aragones de Ciencias de la Salud (IACS)

Eligible institutions

Public Research institutions that carry out their activity in Aragon.

Eligible experimental approaches and disciplines

IACS will not fund pre-clinical nor clinical trials.

Eligibility criteria for the Principal Investigator

PI must be linked, through a civil servant, statutory or labour relationship, with the applicant institution for the whole project duration.

Coordinating PIs may only participate in this role in a single project in this call.

Eligible costs

Personnel costs related to personnel specifically hired for the project by the applicant institution, including salaries, employer Social Security contributions, legally established compensations and other duly justified expenses derived.

Travel, accommodation and subsistence costs directly incurred as a result of the research project, exclusively for people who are part of the project research team or hired under the funded project. Applicants must follow their respective internal travel policies.

Consumables, services costs and expenses related to the publication in open access and dissemination of project results, duly justified and necessary for the successful completion of the project.

Registration fees for congresses or conferences for the presentation and dissemination of the results.

It is compulsory to include the cost of an external independent financial audit certificate up to a maximum of € 1.500.

Indirect costs 15% of total direct costs.

Further guidance

All members of the research team must be linked through a civil servant, statutory or labour relationship with the applicant institution.

More than one partner from Aragon may participate in the same project.

Double funding of the same concept is not allowed.

The projects must respect the fundamental principles established in national and international declarations, protocols and conventions on research ethics, as well as respect the requirements established in national and regional legislation in the field of biomedical research, development and innovation, personal data protection and bioethics.

Project funding will be subject to compliance with the relevant subsidy regulations and other applicable legislation at both the national and Aragon regional levels.

Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)

Eligible institutions

The AEI will fund non-profit research organizations (such as universities, research centres, technological centres and other private non-profit institutions performing RDI activities in Spain). They must have been previously beneficiaries of any of the AEI calls, and they must ensure contractual relationship with the Principal Investigator (PI) during the whole duration of the project. 

Be aware that applicants from the Accredited Health Research Institutes (IIS), hospitals, primary health care or public health administration of the Spanish National Health System (SNS) and CIBER must apply for funding to the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), also participating in this call.

After the evaluation process and based on their budgetary availability and requested funding of selected projects, AEI and ISCIII reserve the right to exchange applicants to each other to optimize the available funds, provided the respective eligibility rules are met.

IMPORTANT: Spanish legal entities which are part of mixed centres will be considered as a unique beneficiary, and thus the maximum funding should not exceed the limits per proposal established above.

Although not fundable by the AEI, the private sector is encouraged to participate in consortia with Spanish academic groups, using their own funds or applying to national or regional calls by CDTI or regional innovation agencies. This is especially encouraged when there are for profit companies from other countries in the consortium or for projects coordinated by Spanish PIs.

Eligible experimental approaches and disciplines

Only excellent proposals with exclusively RDI activities will be funded by the AEI. Entire communication work packages, without research associated, are not eligible costs for AEI.

The final funding will take into account the transnational evaluation of the collaborative proposal, the scientific quality of the Spanish group, the added value of the international collaboration and the financial resources available.

Clinical trials are eligible up to phase 1 (please contact the national contact point for further details).

Eligibility criteria for the Principal Investigator

Eligibility criteria for PIs:

The Spanish Principal Investigators (PIs) must hold a PhD degree.

PIs must be eligible according to the PCI general requirements of the corresponding PCI call (read PCI2025_2 call as an example) and must have experience as investigators (not necessarily as PIs) in projects funded by any of the National Plans of I+D+i from 2013 onwards, ERC Grants, European Framework Programmes or other relevant national or international programmes.

Incompatibilities (these must be considered when participating in different ERA-Nets, partnerships or other international initiatives funded by PCI):

• PIs will not be eligible for funding if they apply as PIs to more than one proposal in this transnational joint call (including those requesting to the ISCIII), to more than one proposal in the same Spanish PCI call and/or to PCI calls of consecutive years.
• If the same PI submits two or more proposals to the present call, all but one will be declared ineligible, without the possibility of future changes. Changing PI will not be allowed.
• PI granted the previous year with a PCI will be declared ineligible, without the possibility of changing the PI.
• PIs must remain unchanged between the pre and full proposal of this transnational joint call, and the national PCI call.

The AEI will avoid double funding and will not grant projects or parts of projects already funded through other national or EU calls.

Eligible costs

• Please, consult “Artículo 8. Conceptos financiables”, especially letter a) Costes de Personal, in PCI2025_2 call resolution as a reference, since eligible costs will be similar.
• Contracts for supporting personnel (gross remuneration and social security contributions) related to the implementation of the funded project are eligible costs. The contract must specify the percentage of the hired person’s time dedicated to the project. The costs of permanent staff linked to the beneficiary entity or members of the research team will not be considered eligible costs.
• Direct costs such as current costs, disposable materials, travelling expenses, coordination costs, and other costs that can be justified as necessary to carry out the proposed activities are eligible. 
• Indirect costs (overheads) are eligible costs (25% of total direct costs, including subcontracting).
• Subcontracting should not exceed 25% of total requested budget.
• Clinical trials are eligible up to phase 1, with a maximum of 50% of the total budget.

Submission of the proposal at the national level

Funding Programme: 

The framework for this funding action is the “Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica, Técnica e Innovación 2024-2027”. On a national level, the call will be managed by the “Subdivisión de Programas Científico-Técnicos Transversales, Fortalecimiento y Excelencia (STRAN)) of the AEI. 

Instrument for funding

The instrument for funding the Spanish groups is the call for “Proyectos de Colaboración Internacional (PCI)”. Please, readcarefullyPCI2025_2 call resolution as an example.

Submission of the pre and full proposal at the national level:

PIs and beneficiaries are strongly encouraged to check eligibility before submitting a pre-proposal, since no changes will be accepted afterwords. No PI or beneficiary changes will be accepted between pre and full proposal as well as during the national call phase. 

1. Within one week after the pre-proposal submission in the partnership website, the Spanish PI must ALSO submit a copy of the international joint pre-proposal at the new AEI application website.
2. Maximum one week after the deadline of the call, the Spanish PI must send duly signed the “Declaración Responsable”* to amr@aei.gob.es.

*This document can also be downloaded from the AEI application website.

Applicants should include both the PI’s full name (with both surnames, if applicable) and the full legal name of their institution as it is stated in the Sistema de Entidades (SISEN).

Further guidance

Submission of financial and scientific reports at the national level:

Financial and scientific reports are required as indicated in the national PCI2025_2 call resolution since will be similar.

Acknowledgement:

Any publication or dissemination activity resulting from the granted projects must acknowledge funding by the “Agencia Estatal de Investigación” according to AEI’s web guidelines.

Beneficiaries are obliged by these requirements and those of the international call.

Data Protection:

By submitting a grant application, the applicants consent to communication of the data contained in the application to other public administrations, with the aim of further processing of the data for historical, statistical or scientific purposes, within the framework of the Organic Law 3/2018, of December 5, on Personal Data.

Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)

Eligible institutions

• Hospitals, primary health care centers, or public health administration bodies within the Spanish National Health System (SNS). These institutions may manage research activities through a foundation regulated under Spanish Act 50/2002, of December 26^th. A copy of the foundation’s statutes may be submitted, if applicable.
• Accredited Health Research Institutes (Institutos de Investigación Sanitaria acreditados, IIS). Institutes accredited under RD 279/2016. These institutions may manage research activities through a foundation regulated by Spanish Act 50/ 2002, of December 26th. A list of accredited IIS can be found at the following link: IIS.
• CIBER. Only one Principal Investigator (PI) per consortium may be eligible by ISCIII. To meet the eligibility criteria, the research team must include members from at least two different CIBER groups based in separate home institutions. At least one of these two institutions must be either a hospital, a primary health care or a public health administration body within of the SNS or an IIS. For further information regarding CIBER´s eligibility, contact directly pai@ciberisciii.es .  
• Applicants not related with the National Health System from non-profit research organizations such as universities, OPIs, technological centres and other private non-profit institutions performing RDI activities in Spain need to apply for funding to the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), following their eligibility criteria.  It is highly recommended to this type of members to integrate in their consortium other Spanish clinical partner (IIS/SNS/CIBER) eligible for funding by ISCIII.

NOT eligible institutions:

Those declared ineligible to receive funding by the AES 2026 of the ISCIII.

PLEASE NOTE:

• Please be aware that in 2026, some Institutions may be declared ineligible to receive funds from ISCIII under this call. Spanish applicants are advised to consult the ISCIII website and the National Contact Point of this call to confirm institutional eligibility.
• The same beneficiary institution cannot participate as more than one Principal Investigator (PI) within the same project proposal.

Eligible experimental approaches and disciplines

Spanish research groups involved in the implementation of a clinical trial within the proposal are strongly recommended to include in their team a representative from their scientific node of the EU Clinical Trials Network (SCReN or ECRIN-ERIC). If such a node does not exist at their institution, it is recommended to include a staff member from their institution´s Clinical Research Supporting Platform (Unidad de Investigación Clinica- UIC).

Eligibility criteria for the Principal Investigator

• PIs must hold a PhD degree. This is a mandatory requirement.
• Each PI may only participate in one project proposal per call.
• PIs affiliated with an IIS, may apply ONLY through the IIS.
• The PI and all research team must be affiliated with institutions that are eligible under the terms of this call.
• Only one PI per beneficiary institution may be funded within the same proposal.
• PIs currently coordinating or participation in an ongoing International Collaboration (PCIN) project funded by the JPI AMR, with an end date after the 31st of December 2026, are no eligible to apply for this call as PI. This incompatibility applies only to the PI, not to other team members. This restriction does not apply in the case that the PI participate as coordinator in the new application or in the ongoing project. 
• Additional incompatibilities may apply. Please consult the AES 2026 for full details.

The following categories of researchers are not eligible to apply as PI:

• Individuals undergoing postgraduate training in health specialization programs (e.g. MIR, EIR, FIR, QIR, BIR, PIR, RFIR)
• Individuals undergoing research training, such as PhD students or those with a “Río Hortega” contract.
• Individuals in postdoctoral training, such as those holding “Sara Borrell” or “Juan de la Cierva” contracts.
• Researchers contracted under RICORs or platforms funded by ISCIII.

Eligible costs

• Personnel must be contracted under the appropriate professional category required for the development of the project (e.g. superior technician, BSc (Grado), MSc (Máster), or PhD (Doctor)). All contracts must be align with the official salary tables published on the ISCIII website/ AES 2026. No deviation from these salary tables will be accepted. Personnel cost must strictly to the defined amounts, neither higher and lower salaries will be eligible.
• Contracts for PhD students must be framed with the National Subprogramme for Training (scholarships are not eligible).
• Personnel costs will be eligible for a maximum of 36 person-months in total, across all personnel contracts in the project.
• Contracts may cover the full duration or a specific part of the project period, depending on project needs.
• Personnel costs will not be eligible if they correspond to civil servants or equivalent personnel, as defined in Article 3.4 of the AES 2026 whether they are employed by the beneficiary institution or are members of the research team.
•  Personnel costs will be eligible when corresponding to contracts under the frame of Art. 23bis of Law 14/2011, 1st June, following the specifications established in AES 2026.

 Other eligible costs may include : current costs expenses, small scientific equipment, disposable materials, travel and accommodation expenses, complementary expenses (use of central and general research support services of the beneficiary institution) cost related to publication and dissemination of results and additional costs included in the AES 2026, provided they are clearly justify as necessary for carrying out the proposed activities.

• Overheads (indirect cost) are eligible up to a maximum of the 25% of the total direct costs, in accordance with the AES 2026.
• Double funding of the same concept is not allowed. Cost already covered by other grants or funding sources may not be charged to this project.

Submission of the proposal at the national level

• Full proposal applicants selected must submit a national application to ISCIIII, in accordance with the timeline and procedures outlined in the AES 2026, except for those whose proposals have been declared ineligible for funding by Joint Call Secretariat prior to the national application deadline.
• Due to administrative and legal regulations, ISCIII has set 31 of October 2026 as the national deadline for the Call Steering Committee to decide on the fundable project consortia   that include Spanish partners requesting funding from ISCIII. Any national applicant whose proposal is declared fundable after this date will be considered ineligible for funding from ISCIII 

Further guidance

• Submission of a pre-eligibility form needed at national level

In order to expedite the eligibility check process, it is mandatory for all the applicants to submit the PI´s CVA-ISCIII. This document must be sent by the PI by via email before the pre-proposal submission deadline to the following addresses cbarco@isciii.es . The email subject line must include the PI´s full name and the proposal acronym

• Additional clause regarding available grant

After the evaluation process and based on their budgetary availability and requested funding of selected projects, AEI and ISCIII may exchange applicants to each other to optimize the available funds, provided the respective eligibility rules are met. 

• Requirements on data and repositories

Researchers funded by ISCIII are required to make public the human genomic data, as well as relevant data (including phenotype and exposition data) generated within the funded project, by depositing them in open access repositories. In addition, researchers must provide all necessary information to enable the interpretation of these genomic data, including laboratory protocols, data instruments, and survey tools. For the purpose of this requirement, genomic data refers to the association of complete genomes (GWAS), single nucleotide polymorphism (SPN) matrices, genome sequences, as well as transcriptomic, metagenomic, epigenomic, and gene expression data. Researchers funded by ISCIII are recommended to store their scientific data at the “ELIXIR Core Data Resources” . If non-European repositories or databases are used, they must be certified by ELIXIR.

ISCIII may no fund projects that require the creation of new repositories and/or databases if they do not include a decommissioning plan or clear strategy to ensure sustainability beyond the end of the funding period.

• Acknowledgements

Any publication, database, product, or event – whether protected by intellectual property rights (IPR)or not- resulting from the funded projects must be include the following acknowledge: “Award no. XX by ISCIII  through the AES 2026 and within the EUP OHAMR framework”. This acknowledgment must be included even after the project has ended, and must also incorporate additional acknowledgments that may be specifically requested by ISCIII. For further information, please consult ISCIII’s ROR here.