The Government has regulated the first call of the Faros de…

The Basque Government has for the first time regulated and called for grants from the Faros de Innovación (Innovation Lighthouses) program, in the Challenges and Platforms modalities, for the 2026-2028 period. The order signed on October 6, 2026, by the Minister of Science, Universities and Innovation, Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias, establishes a maximum amount of 19,115,000 euros, and was published in issue number 210 of the Official Gazette of the Basque Country on November 3, 2026 (reference 2026/4628). The purpose of the call is to transform the results of advanced science and technology into innovation, so that they may have a social or economic impact.

The order is aligned with the PCTI Euskadi 2030 plan and the Faros de Innovación program, and is financed through the Innovation Fund. The background is clear: the program was presented on October 30, 2025, and the design of the support structure was announced on March 16, 2026, with the operational PHI divided into four tools (Strategies, Challenges, Platforms, and Roadmaps). The legal context is composed of Decree 494/2024, Law 20/2023, and Law 38/2003, and the processing is entirely electronic. These grants are also included in the Department’s 2026 Strategic Plan.

Nine lighthouses and three transitions

The program is organized around three transitions: digital and technological, energy and environmental, and socio-demographic and sanitary. These nine strategic lines are the lighthouses:

Artificial intelligence.
Quantum technologies.
Cybersecurity.
Decarbonization.
Healthy and sustainable nutrition.
One Health.
Personalized and precision health.
Social determinants of health.
Demography and socio-sanitary challenges.

The lighthouses are based on the territory’s scientific, technological, and industrial strengths, and are aligned with European priorities for green transition, competitiveness, and resilience.

Two support lines and 19 million euros

The grants have two lines, each with its own objectives and conditions. The Challenges line supports science-innovation projects that address national challenges, developed through partnerships between scientific agents, companies, and public institutions, aimed at validating, adopting, or scaling results. The Platforms line creates, improves, or connects strategic scientific-technological infrastructures and platforms with European and global platforms to serve the entire RVCTI.

Total: 19,115,000 euros, divided into three events.
Challenges: 13,500,000 euros, with annual installments of 4,500,000 euros in 2026, 2027, and 2028.
Platforms: 5,615,000 euros (3,615,000 in 2026, 1,000,000 in 2027, and 1,000,000 in 2028).
Maximum per project in the Challenges line: 4,500,000 euros for the entire period and 1,500,000 euros per year.
Maximum per action in the Platforms line: 3,000,000 euros for the entire period.

If there are surpluses in one line, they may be redirected to the reserve list of another line, respecting the order of evaluation.

Partnerships and submission deadline

Applications must necessarily be submitted through a partnership, and the partnership must have at least two participants: a scientific participant from the RVCTI, on one hand, and a non-scientific participant — a company or public entity —, on the other. Leadership is shared: the scientific participant guides the scientific part and the non-scientific participant guides the impact part. Companies may only cover the costs corresponding to their effective participation, and they may not assume more than 70% of the project costs.

Application deadline: one month, starting from the day after publication, that is, until December 4th.
Documents to be submitted: technical memory (maximum 10 pages), budget and financing plan, schedule, and the partnership agreement.
For Platforms in the line, a European integration and interoperability plan is also required.

Evaluation and deadlines

Unibasq, the University System Quality Agency, will carry out the evaluations, using a 100-point scale divided among three blocks: action plan, financing plan, and partnership. To obtain funding, minimum thresholds must be exceeded: 60 points in total and minimum scores in each block.

The prescribed execution period for projects is from the date of publication until December 31, 2028, and payments will be annual: the 2026 event will be paid in full after the resolution, and an 80% advance in 2027 and 2028. Justification must be submitted before January 15, 2028, for the first period, and before January 15, 2029, at the end. The period for issuing and notifying the resolution is six months, and the resolution corresponds to the Vice-Minister of Science and Innovation.

Strategic call for scientific participants

This order sets a milestone: for the first time, there is a single call that covers the entire innovation value chain, from basic research to marketing, and this prioritizes mixed partnerships and multi-governance projects. Distributing more than 19 million euros over three years provides predictability for universities, BERC, CIC, and CIS centers, companies, and public entities, and establishes a direct link with the goals of the PCTI Euskadi 2030 plan. The path for appeal is open in the resolution — an optional one-month administrative appeal and a two-month jurisdictional appeal —, but the architecture of the call shows that the Government wants to encourage science and business participants to work together around each lighthouse.

Fuente: Boletín Oficial del País Vasco, n.º 210, 3 de noviembre de 2026, Otras Disposiciones, pp. 1-22 (official reference: 2026/4628).