International Research Projects (Proyectos de Investigación Internacionales, PII)
Invests research teams and institutions for Proyectos de Investigación Internacionales in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and climate technology.
Proyectos de Investigación Internacionales (PII) is an annual competitive grant call administered by Spain's Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) under MICIU, designed to promote the generation of scientific and technical knowledge through bilateral international research collaboration projects between Spanish institutions and foreign counterparts. The program operates under the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2024–2027, specifically the subprogram for Generation of Scientific-Technical Knowledge and Experimental Development. The 2026 cycle carried a budget of €4,500,000 and ran from April 17 to May 19, 2026; based on the confirmed annual pattern, a 2027 cycle is expected following approximately the same calendar.
Per-project award amounts for individual bilateral collaborations are not published at the call level and will appear in individual resolution documents. The 2026 call was managed as concurrencia competitiva (competitive selection), meaning projects are ranked and funded in order of merit until the budget is exhausted. Eligible applicants are Spanish research organisations and universities that are one partner in a bilateral international project; the foreign partner institution must be documented as the counterpart. For-profit companies and individual researchers are not eligible under this call. All scientific and technical domains are within scope.
AEI's Subdirección de Procedimientos de Concesión manages the review process. Applications are submitted through the AEI portal at aei.gob.es. The 2027 call dates and budget have not yet been published; applicants should monitor AEI for the opening announcement. Given the one-month application window typical of AEI calls, institutions with existing bilateral collaboration agreements or active joint publications should identify the foreign counterpart institution and draft project documentation in advance so that applications can be finalised quickly once the call opens.
All scientific and technical domains eligible for bilateral knowledge-generation research projects between Spanish institutions and international partners.
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