La Caixa Foundation – Health Research Call 2026

Objective of the call:

To identify and promote promising initiatives of scientific excellence with social value in Neurosciences, Oncology, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases, Infectious Diseases, and Enabling Technologies applied to these areas.

Modalities and aid:

Individual (1 applicant organization): up to €500,000 per project (duration ≤ 3 years).
Consortia (2-5 organizations): up to €1,000,000 per project (duration ≤ 3 years).

Co-funders and special support: Francisco Luzón Foundation (possible co-funding for ALS), Breakthrough T1D (for DM1) and the i4B collaboration (FCT) for projects led by Portuguese organizations (details in the bases).

Host Organization (HO): non-profit research organizations located in Spain or Portugal.
Project Leader (PL): HO researcher who presents and directs the project.
Research Performing Organizations (RPO): any non-profit research organization in the world (min. 2, max. 5 in consortia).
Civil Society Organizations (CSO): up to 3 non-profit entities (e.g. patient associations) can be included in the proposal.
Companies: they cannot be project partners, but they can be subcontractors and receive subcontracting funds.
International limit: the sum of the budget of organizations not located in Spain or Portugal may not exceed 30% of the total project budget.

Requirements

Winning PLs in the last three editions of Health Research are not eligible to apply as PLs in this edition.
PL and PI that in the previous edition obtained a score lower than 5.50/8 in the remote review cannot be presented as PL in this edition (and prospective disqualification rules for future editions according to results).
Proposals whose results are subject to royalties from for-profit entities prior to the close of the solicitation are not eligible. The Foundation reserves the right to reject proposals that clearly benefit for-profit entities.
Scientific quality and budgetary fit are valued criteria; typology (individual/consortium, basic/translational/clinical) is not a selection criterion per se.

Application: 18.09.2025 – 19.11.2025, 2pm

Duration: up to 3 years of execution per project.

Eligibility Process: November-December 2025
Pre-selection (remote review): January-April 2026
On-site evaluation by expert committees: May 14 and 15, 2026 (Barcelona)
Communication of selected projects: June 2026
Project implementation: September 2026 – December 2029

Indicative total budget: up to €21,500,000 (subject to final approval by the Foundation).

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