The Department of Research and Universities has increased by 27% the direct aid received by doctoral students from the 2023 call for the Industrial Doctorate Plan. This is one of the main novelties of the new edition of the program for which it is now possible to apply for the grants that offer researchers and pre-doctoral researchers the possibility to do research training in a company or institution, in collaboration with a university or research center, where they develop a project that will end up being the subject of the doctoral thesis.
With an initial investment of nearly six million euros (5,878,800 euros), the 2023 call for the Industrial Doctorates Plan presents substantial improvements in the 10 years since its launch. Global aid – which apart from direct funding to doctoral students also includes what is perceived by participating universities, research centers and companies – can exceed 64,000 euros if the defended thesis obtains the international mention.
One of the objectives of this call is to increase the international visibility of the Industrial Doctorates Plan. This is why this new economic incentive has been created to encourage the internationalization of projects. If the doctoral student spends a minimum of three months abroad and at the time of submitting the thesis requests the international mention, both the business environment and the academic environment will receive an additional contribution of 2,000 euros, each.
Another novelty of this edition is that, within the specific aid modality, aid will also be awarded to research groups, and not only to doctoral students as was done until now.
For the Minister of Research and Universities, Joaquim Nadal i Farreras, the Government's investment in the Industrial Doctorate Plan "is another bet for young talent through this program aimed at innovation, competitiveness and the internationalization of the fabric industrial Catalan". This year's budget of the Department of Research and Universities includes measures in favor of talent worth more than 138 million euros. One of the novelties this year is the action worth 2.4 million euros to stabilize 60 postdoctoral researchers.
"The Industrial Doctorate Plan is another commitment to young talent through this program aimed at innovation, competitiveness and the internationalization of the Catalan industrial fabric"
Deadlines for the call for Industrial Doctorates 2023
The general deadline for applying for a 2023 Industrial Doctorate grant will be open until December 11 and the application must be made from the Virtual Office of Procedures. During the year, however, there are partial deadlines, the first of which will be until May 25 and will be resolved during the month of July. The next deadlines will be in the fall and at the end of the year.
Impact of the 2022 call
Within the 2022 call, 146 proposals were promoted, of which 119 applications were formalized and 117 grants were awarded (106 in the form of co-financing and 11 specific grants).
Regarding the participating companies, there were 113 companies, 73 of which had never participated before. Of these 113 companies and beneficiary entities, 66 were SMEs, 58.4% of the projects with aid; 11 large companies (9.7%), 20 start-ups or spin-offs (17.7%) and 16 non-profit organizations (14.2%).
As for the academic environment, 11 of the 12 Catalan universities participated, 12 CERCA centers – the Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida for the first time–, the Superior Council of Scientific Research (CSIC) and the Higher School of Commerce International (ESCI-UPF). Overall, 111 researchers and researchers were involved. Another edition increased the number of new participants, 60% of researchers and 55% of research groups participated for the first time.
With regard to the scope of the projects, all areas of knowledge were represented: 29.1% were Health Sciences and Biomedical projects, 23.9% from ICT, 12% from Science and Technology Chemistry and 10.3% of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities.
In summary and with a global vision of 2012-2022, the Industrial Doctorate Plan has promoted more than 900 collaborative research projects, with the participation of more than 600 different companies and institutions. The 12 universities of the Catalan system and 25 CERCA centers have participated, as well as CSIC, EURECAT and other agents of the research ecosystem, which have involved more than 670 researchers from more than 430 research groups. From an economic point of view, 119 million euros have been invested, 2/3 of which come from the business environment. Finally, more than 290 doctoral theses have already been defended.
