Barcelona, 7 September 2026 – The Generalitat de Catalunya has launched the first “Ayudas a la Ciencia Abierta de Catalunya” grant programme, with a budget of €600,000. According to the Departament for Research and Universities, the funding scheme aims to improve the transparency, discoverability and reusability of research results, and bring open knowledge-sharing to society.
Universities, CERCA centres, research foundations, museums, observatories and other non-profit organisations in Cataloniaare eligible to apply. Funding is available for ongoing projects and projects completed no more than six months before 31 December 2027. The application deadline is 5 October 2026 at 14.00 (CEST). The selection criteria include scientific quality, expected benefit to society, and technical and economic feasibility; gender perspective, inclusion and sustainability will also be taken into account.
The funding is divided into four strands. €270,000 is available for opening up and reusing research outputs, with grants of up to €15,000 per project. Measures for training, mobility and professional development have a budget of €120,000. €170,000 is earmarked for initiatives to disseminate and engage society – such as workshops and seminars – with grants of up to €7,500 per application. A dedicated strand for civil society participation in mental health research under the Pacte Nacional de Salut Mental has a budget of €40,000, with grants of up to €10,000 per project.
The Departament de Recerca i Universitats is running the grant programme in collaboration with the Fundació Catalana per a la Recerca i la Innovació and the Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya . The measure is justified by the aim of making publicly funded research more widely accessible and thereby promoting the democratic use of knowledge. The funding is also intended to strengthen the structures and skills needed for a culture of open science.
The grant programme is part of a broader Catalan strategy to promote open science. At European level, several funding schemes increasingly require compliance with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) for research data. Regional programmes such as the grants announced here are intended to help organisations put these standards into practice and strengthen the transfer of knowledge to society.
Editor: Andreas M. Brucker (Article created with AI assistance).