General information
All general information about the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) is available at:
https://planderecuperacion.gob.es/plan-espanol-de-recuperacion-transformacion-y-resiliencia
The activities of the Ministry of Science and Innovation within the PRTR are developed within component 17 of the Plan: Institutional reform and capacity building of the national science, technology and innovation system.
The PRTR in the AEI
The AEI will invest €1,240,888 M from the PRTR, developing activities in the following investments of Component 17:
C17.I2. Strengthening of the capacities, infrastructures and equipment of the SECTI agents.
The announcements for grant will be reinforced to enhance the internationalization capabilities of the science system, a critical factor for its success. Likewise, the scientific and technical research equipment will be renewed.
- New announcement Europe Networks and Managers - Europe Technology Centers 2020: Grant aimed at providing public and private research organizations with the structure and knowledge necessary for the adequate promotion, preparation, support and management of European projects, with the in order to improve their chances of obtaining community funding in the Horizon Europe Program (especially during the initial years, 2021 and 2022) and as part of the change of cycle of this EU Framework Program.
- New announcement Europe Research 2020: to promote and improve Spanish participation in European initiatives in science and technology, increasing the number of Spanish coordinators participating in projects of the Horizon Europe Program announcements. This announcement focuses on projects that are proposed as coordinators in Horizon Europe, again in relation to the change of cycle of the framework program.
- New Europa Excelencia 2020, 2022 and 2023 announcements: to promote Spanish participation in the “Starting Grants” and “Consolidator Grants” subprograms framed in Pillar 1 “Excellent Science” of the Horizon 2020 Program. These are research projects scientific-technical related to the objectives of the proposals submitted and positively evaluated and considered eligible by the European Research Council (ERC), but which for budgetary reasons could not finally be financed by said body. In the 2020 announcement, the duration of the grant is set at two years and it is expected that the grant given will allow researchers to enter ERC proposals in the new R+D+I framework programme. In 2022 and 2023 grant will be increased by more than 100%, so it is expected to increase the incentive.
- Announcements for grants for the provision, improvement and updating of the scientific-technical equipment of the agents of the R+D+I system, in order to facilitate quality research and promote the development of highly competitive R+D activities, thus contributing to regional development.
- To improve the efficiency of the Ministry's announcements, a new management software will be developed and implemented to facilitate interaction between the State Research Agency (AEI), the beneficiaries, other financing agencies and the other Ministries. The new software will make it possible to increase the efficiency of the AEI, improve communication with the institutions that benefit from the grant, and increase coordination with other R+D+I funding agencies.
C17.I3. New Public-Private, Interdisciplinary R+D+I projects, Proofs of concept and granting of grant as a result of international competitive announcements. Cutting-edge R+D oriented to the challenges of society. Pre-commercial public purchase.
The research and innovation community in Spain will be mobilized to intensify its activity and promote the transfer of research results to society, with an emphasis on collaboration with companies. To this end, the funds dedicated to research will be increased with a new generation of announcements for grants and subsidies, and activities will be focused on strategic lines.
- A new announcement for proof of concept projects: to finance projects that accelerate the transformation of ideas, knowledge or scientific results into products, goods, applications or benefits for the economy, society, culture, public policies or services. The activities will be oriented to progress in the first stages of the pre-competitive development of an idea and to facilitate its practical application. Specifically, the grant may be used for:
- The protection of the knowledge generated; IPR analysis and strategy.
- Analysis of technical, commercial or social feasibility.
- The tests for validation.
- Obtaining technological prototypes, pilot-scale development, testing with end users, etc.
- Analysis of operating models, business plan and financing forecast for later stages.
- The first stages of creating a company (spin off).
- Training, mentoring, advisory or consultancy activities.
- A new announcement for interdisciplinary projects in strategic lines that will finance public-private consortiums and whose strategic lines of action have been selected based on their contribution to the recovery from the crisis, the competitiveness of Spanish actors in the international context and the ability to achieve a position of international leadership. Each of the lines is formally defined by its objective, its expected impact, the budget and the number of projects to be approved (generally between one and two). Regarding the budget, public researchers will receive grants, while private companies will receive loans. This action will make it possible to enhance research capabilities on specific issues, which the Ministry wants to opt for in order to promote recovery and leadership. The interdisciplinary nature of the work teams will make it possible to identify creative solutions with a high potential for transforming society.
- A new announcement for research projects on the green and digital transition: to finance projects developed by researchers from the public sector and by private non-profit research entities, whose objective will be the implementation of the ecological and digital transition. In particular, the promotion of research in the production and use of clean and efficient energy sources, energy infrastructure, management of water resources and waste, and sustainable transport will be considered. The projects may bring together researchers from complementary disciplines to provide more added value to research.
- Announcement for Public-Private Collaboration projects, "Collaboration Challenges": it is planned to reinforce this Announcement (which has been carried out for other years) by adding resources to promote public-private collaboration in the context of R+D+I . This is one of the announcements with a higher TRL (Technology Readiness Level). It has the distinctive characteristic that public and private researchers participate in the same consortium under the coordination of a company. This is a announcement that facilitates private investment with public loans and is aimed at obtaining results close to the market. Thanks to the Recovery Plan, investment in these announcements is growing sharply at a time when companies will have difficulty accessing resources for R+D+I. The theme of the projects will be aimed at promoting the economic recovery of Spain.
- Announcement for International Collaboration Projects: It will allow the financing of SECTI research and innovation groups that are part of cross-border joint programming projects selected for financing by the Horizon Europe and Horizon 2020 associations, such as the ERA-Net cofund, the initiatives created in accordance with articles 187 and 185 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the associations established in the Horizon Europe Framework Program. The MRR funds included in this announcement will serve to complement the funding given for the execution of R+D+I activities in the context of all these associations under Horizon Europe and/or Horizon 2020.
C17.I4. New scientific career.
The objective is to support talent and its connection with the private sector, through the figure of the tenure track, in order to give early stability to the research staff, while at the same time influencing the objective external evaluation of the scientific performance.
- Announcement for “Industrial Doctors” grants (4-year contracts for the training of doctors in companies, encouraging their stabilization) and Announcement for grants from the Torres Quevedo program (3-year contracts for hiring doctors in companies). In both cases, the beneficiary of the grant is the company where the doctorate will be carried out (in the case of "Industrial Doctors") or that hires the doctor (in the case of Torres Quevedo), which receives small subsidies to cover coordination of the young researchers hired. In this way, public-private collaboration is favored. As a novelty, these announcements will be coordinated with the new Cervera Transfer Announcement for R+D projects (detailed in investment 5), to enhance the effect of both measures.
- Announcements for grant linked to the new scientific career: The new scientific career is accompanied by the measure to reform the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation, including monitoring and evaluation mechanisms that ensure the quality of implementation of the scientific career with established and transparent criteria, in order to lower the age of stable incorporation to SECTI, which will favor the attraction and retention of talent. For this, it contemplates a set of three differentiated instruments that cover the different stages of the scientific career and for each of them the corresponding announcements for grant are established:
- Grant for training. Grants whose purpose is to facilitate the transition from predoctoral training to the postdoctoral stage and which will include a mobility grant. The announcement for postdoctoral contracts with a duration of two years and with a grant for stays in other centers, such as the beginning stage of the postdoctoral stage, is planned. It will be a national announcement, carried out and evaluated by the State Research Agency, for recent doctorates from the entire SECTI system in which the criteria of scientific excellence will be maintained and where the centers in which this stage will be carried out will receive the corresponding grant. for the hiring of young doctors.
- Grant for incorporation. Grants for the consolidation of the postdoctoral stage that will include a grant for research. This is a national announcement, carried out and evaluated by the State Research Agency, for the entire SECTI with the intention of consolidating the postdoctoral stage and with the option to lead research projects. One of the requirements of these contracts will be having made stays in centers other than the one of incorporation for a minimum period of twelve months. These contracts will be endowed with additional grant to cover the expenses of the contracted person directly related to the execution of their research activities.
- Grants for the hiring of Stable Incorporation to the SECTI (figure type Tenure Track). Grant that will accompany the subscription of a permanent employment contract that is part of the Public Employment Offer of the Public Administrations, in combination with an additional allocation for research (start-up package). The Recovery Plan finances this additional allocation for research, the execution period of which will be adjusted to that of the MRR. The permanent employment contract is financed with the competent Public Administration's own resources through the Public Employment Offer. This procedure will allow the stable access of the best scientific and research staff to the public agents of the Spanish Science, Technology and Innovation System, subjecting them in any case to an objective external evaluation after four years have elapsed from the signing of the corresponding employment contract, in order to assess, from multiple perspectives, the scientific performance developed throughout said period and thus allowing the retention of the best talent.