ATRAE Program — Established Talent Recruitment (Incorporación de talento consolidado)
Funds Spanish public research entities to recruit experienced international principal investigators and support their initial research activity.
⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.
Programa ATRAE 2026, administered by Spain's Agencia Estatal de Investigación under the Plan Estatal 2024-2027 Programa Estatal de Recursos Humanos, funds Spanish public research entities to recruit internationally consolidated principal investigators who have recently spent a significant part of their career abroad. The objective is to strengthen Spain's research system by attracting senior talent and enabling the formation of top-tier research groups. The 2026 call holds a €40 million budget.
The standard award ceiling is €1,000,000 (direct costs plus 25% indirect). An enhanced ceiling of €1,200,000 applies when the recruited PI has been affiliated with a US-based research organisation for at least five years between 1 January 2020 and the call opening date, a provision acknowledging the additional adjustment burden for researchers leaving the United States. Eligible beneficiaries include Spanish public research organisations (OPIs), public and private universities, public healthcare entities, accredited public biomedical research institutes, and other public R&D centres. The PI recruited must meet high international standing criteria — typically within the top 10% of researchers in their field globally, holding an active ERC grant, or occupying the highest academic rank in their country of origin. The submission window ran from 23 April to 4 June 2026 at 14:00 peninsular Spanish time. Every award must fund two mandatory components: the employment contract of the PI and the execution of a PI-led R&D project. Lab adaptation costs are optional.
Applications are assessed through concurrencia competitiva. Host entities must demonstrate infrastructure and capacity to absorb and support a senior PI's independent research programme. Applicants should identify a recruitable PI before submitting, as the grant is structured around a named individual. Competitive proposals evidence the PI's international profile against the stated benchmarks and articulate a compelling strategic research plan tied to the host organisation's capacity.
Funds Spanish public research entities to recruit internationally consolidated principal investigators, covering the PI's employment contract, an R&D project, and optionally laboratory adaptation costs.
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