TIMELINE
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS CLOSED
Call publication and opening of the online system for proposal submission
8 January 2026, at 2 pm CET
Deadline for applications (automatic closure)
25 February 2026, at 2 pm CET
Remote preselection
From March to May 2026
Online face-to-face assessment by selection committees
June 2026
Announcement of selected projects
July 2026
Execution of the selected projects
From September 2026 to December 2029, depending on the category of the project
GOALS
”la Caixa” Foundation launches the first edition of the HealthCare Research call. The primary aim of this Call is to fund research that advances the design and evaluation of healthcare interventions in health promotion and disease prevention.
Proposals should:
Take an applied approach to real-world health issues
Employ rigorous, validated methodologies
Integrate, when relevant, perspectives from multiple research disciplines and professionals
Show a clear pathway to scalability
Areas of interest include but are not limited to: mental health; women’s health; child and adolescent health; nutrition and healthy lifestyles; healthy ageing; and management of chronic conditions.
GRANTS
Proposals must be submitted in one of the following three proposal categories:
Pilot studies: small-scale preliminary studies on health interventions, aimed at evaluating the feasibility and appropriateness of a larger-scale intervention. They can receive up to €80,000. Maximum duration of up to 2 years.
Retrospective evaluations: research proposals that evaluate the effectiveness and impact of existing health interventions. They can receive up to €150,000. Maximum duration of up to 2 years.
New interventions: research proposals that develop and evaluate new healthcare interventions. They can receive up to €300,000. Maximum duration of up to 3 years.
All three types of proposals may be carried out individually (with a single research organisation) or as a consortium (one research organisation and up to four partner organisations). In addition, all proposals may include participant organisations without an associated budget, such as primary care centres, and non-profit civil society organisations, such as patient associations. Established companies cannot be part of the project as partner organizations.
Grants may be awarded up to €2,500,000* to support the selected projects. The intention is distributing the budget as follows: up to €500,000 for pilot studies, up to €750,000 for retrospective studies and up to €1,250,000 for new interventions, but the final distribution will always depend on the quality and specific characteristics of the submitted proposals.
* This amount is subject to final approval by ”la Caixa” Foundation.
The selection criterio for assessing the proposals are those described in the rules for participation.
Correct allocation of the budget and its suitability for the activities to be carried out will be a strictly evaluated criterion during the selection process.
APPLICANTS
Host Organizations (HO). Projects submitted may be led by researchers from non-profit research organizations based in Spain or Portugal.
Project Leader (PL). The principal investigator at the host organization must also be the project leader who submits the proposal and coordinates overall execution of the project.
Partner organizations. Any organization that located in any country that performs activites in the project and has budget allocated. Research organizations with the same NIF or VAT number will be considered one sole organization.
Partners. Each partner organization must have a main responsible for carrying out the project activities undertaken within their organisation.
Participant organizations. Any organization participating in the proposal —including the Host and the partner organizations— with or without budget, (for example, primary health centres).
Civil Society Organizations (CSO). Both individual projects and research consortia may also include up to three non-profit civil society organizations that are not engaged in research as part of their usual activity (e.g. patients’ associations).
Companies. Established companies cannot be members of the project team, but may receive funds for subcontracted services.
The sum of the budgets of all the organizations not located in Spain or Portugal may constitute no more than 30 % of the total project budget. In all cases, the proposed intervention must be conducted in Spain or Portugal.
Team members. All team members should form part of the host organization (HO), the civil society organizations (CSO) or the research consortia.
APPLICATION CRITERIA
Details of the eligibility criteria and required documentation to complete the application can be found in the rules for participation.
Project Leader (PL): the PL of a proposal must have finished their doctoral degree (PhD) before the opening date of the Call.
Prospectively, PLs of projects selected in this edition of the call will not be able to submit a new proposal as PLs in the following two (for pilot studies and retrospective evaluations) or three (for new interventions) editions of the call.
Projects developing studies whose results are subject to rights of any nature, held by for-profit organizations before the submission of the proposal are NOT eligible. The ”la Caixa” Foundation reserves the right to reject proposals with a clear benefit to for-profit organizations.
PROJECT SELECTION
Proposals are selected on the basis of a rigorous process that will be carried out in accordance with the standards of quality, impartiality, objectivity and transparency.
The process consists of an initial format eligibility process, a remote phase of proposal pre-selection followed by an online interview conducted by Selection Committees in each of the proposal categories.
Check the list of the most frequently asked questions.
CONTACT
Questions and answers
E-mail: [email protected]
APPLICATION PROCESS
The online system will be open to submit applications from 8 January 2025, at 2 pm CET, to 25 February 2025, at 2 pm CET.
Users and roles in the online system:
a. Project Leader (PL): investigator responsible for the proposal and person who will sign the grant agreement if the proposal is selected. It is essential that the PL register in the system with their personal data and select their organization, which must appear in the list. Should the organization not be found, it can be included by entering its name and identification details (NIF if the organization is Spanish and VAT number if it is Portuguese).
b. Organization Manager (OM): manager of the applicant’s organization and sole representative authorized by the organization to carry out the management procedures related to the proposal (accepting the PL linked to the organization and providing the necessary documentation should the proposal be selected).
i. The proposal cannot be submitted until the PL receives the online acceptance from the OM. This acceptance can be done at any time during the proposal preparation, as after acceptance the proposal can be modified by the PL.
ii. The OM has access to view the proposals.
c. Partner:main responsable of each consortium organization. The partner has access to the proposal of which he/she is a member through the invitation from the PL. The PI may access the proposal for viewing and must accept it online for the procedure to continue.
d. Civil Society Organizations (CSO): non-profit organizations from civil society which participate as members of a project proposal (whether individual or in consortium). The representative of the CSO has access to the proposal of which the CSO is a member through the invitation from the PL. The representative may access the proposal for viewing and must accept it online for the procedure to continue.
A validation button is available during the application process to check that the data provided is correct before submitting the proposal. We recommend using this validation throughout the process and well in advance of the deadline to avoid last minute issues with your submission. No proposals will be accepted after the submission deadline.
The application must be completed in English. Applications will not be accepted if they are submitted in any other language, have incomplete information or documentation, are presented on paper or delivered through any other manner, or fail to meet the deadline.
Check the list of most frequently asked questions.
CONTACT
SELECTION PROCESS
The Project evaluation procedure consists of the following phases:
Eligibility process: all applications received will be reviewed to ensure they fulfil the criteria published in the rules for participation. In case an application is dismissed, ”la Caixa” Foundation will send an e-mail notification to the applicant.
Remote preselection process: applications that pass the eligibility phase enter the preselection remote process, conducted by three or four international experts. The applications that receive the best ratings from each proposal category will proceed to the next stage. ”la Caixa” Foundation will inform PLs by email whether they have been shortlisted or not.
Online assessment by selection committees: there will be 3 selection committees, one for each proposal category of this call. These committees will be composed of 8 to 12 internationally renowned experts. The PLs of shortlisted proposals will be called in for an online interview in June 2026. Projects that are selected in the call will be notified in July 2026.
If you would like further information about the selection process, please download the following documents: Eligibility and evaluation guidelines and Code of conduct for evaluators. These documents will be published in the forthcoming weeks.
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