Ayudas GPE — Preparación Proyectos Europeos
Runs research teams and institutions for Ayudas GPE Preparación Proyectos Europeos in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and climate technology.
Ayudas GPE (Preparación y Gestión de Proyectos Europeos) is an annual institutional capacity-building grant administered by Spain's Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) under MICIU. The program funds Spanish research institutions to strengthen the internal structures, skills, and knowledge bases needed to prepare, submit, and manage Horizon Europe project applications, and to recruit and integrate international research personnel. It does not fund research projects themselves but rather the institutional offices and workflows that enable competitive European and international participation. Prior cycles ran continuously from 2022 through 2026, confirming an established annual recurrence.
The 2026 cycle carried a budget of €11,900,000 and ran from March 5 to March 26, 2026, with a 14:00 Spanish peninsular time deadline. The 2027 cycle dates and budget have not yet been published. The program operates under the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2024–2027, specifically the State Subprogram for Institutional Strengthening within the State Program for Research and Experimental Development. Selection is by competitive review (concurrencia competitiva). Per-institution award amounts are not published at the call level.
Eligible applicants are Spanish public research organisations and universities; private companies and individuals cannot apply. AEI's Subdirección de Procedimientos de Concesión manages the competitive review. Call-specific questions should be directed to gpe.solicitud@aei.gob.es. Given that the 2026 window was only three weeks, institutions intending to apply to GPE 2027 should prepare project management office capacity documentation and hiring plans well before the anticipated February–March 2027 opening window. The program explicitly supports activities such as creating or expanding European project support offices, training grant writers, and building pipelines for international researcher recruitment and onboarding.
Institutional capacity for preparing and managing Horizon Europe bids and for recruiting and integrating international research personnel at Spanish research institutions.
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