The Department of Health has opened the 2026 research call with €5.8 million.

The Department of Health has opened a single call for R&D grants in health research for 2026, with a budget of €5,806,200. The order signed by the Minister of Health Alberto Martínez Ruiz on July 7 brings together four grant lines in a single document, and it has been published in issue 153 of the Boletín Oficial del País Vasco (BOPV) on August 13, 2026, with reference 2026/3603.

The order is framed within the PCTI 2030-RIS3 Euskadi plan, taking personalised health as a main area, and references the Basque Health Plan 2030 and the 2022-2025 Strategic Framework for Health Research and Innovation, with the One Health approach as its axis. The objective is to translate scientific knowledge into benefits for patients and to place the Basque Country among the most advanced European regions by 2030; the call is included in the 2026 Annual Grants Plan and will be managed by the Department of Health with the support of the collaborating entity Bioef.

Four lines, over five and a half million euros

The call has four grant lines, each with its own budget and limits:

• Promoting research activity (R&D): €2,556,200; up to €300,000 per project; maximum duration of 36 months; aimed at Health Research Centres (CIS), with four modalities — emerging researchers (at least €520,000), health services research, biomedical research and integrated health project (maximum two, with participation from three research institutes).
• Intensification of clinical-care activity: up to €600,000; releases of up to 24 months; up to €85,000 per person (for a 50% release).
• Strategic research: €2,350,000; up to €200,000 per project and €350,000 cumulative; projects lasting between 1 and 3 years, focusing on personalised medicine, digital health, medical devices, neurosciences and patient outcomes.
• Commissioned research: up to €300,000; up to €60,000 per project; for activities carried out in 2026, to generate proprietary knowledge within the Osakidetza-Basque Health Service network.

The budget may be increased by up to 20% depending on availability; if any line does not exhaust its funds, the surplus will be automatically redirected to other lines.

Who may apply and how to submit applications

Accredited agencies of the Basque Science, Technology and Innovation Network (RVCTI) may be beneficiaries: university research structures, health research centres and technology centres, among others. The first two lines are exclusively for CIS centres; the strategic and commissioned lines are open to any RVCTI agency, with at least one health research centre participating. Agencies must be accredited in accordance with the provisions of Decree 109/2015 on the date they submit their application.

Applications may be submitted in Basque or Spanish, and the deadline is one month, starting from the day after the order is published in the BOPV (August 14). All procedures must be carried out electronically at the euskadi.eus electronic headquarters, with each line having its own service code; the evaluation will be carried out by the Assessment Committee chaired by Iñaki Gutiérrez Ibarluzea, with peer evaluation by external experts.

Topics of the commissioned research

The commissioned lines must respond to topics previously defined by the Department of Health, in two areas:

• Public Health: evaluation of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of vaccination programmes; integrated system for genomic information on pathogens of human interest (One Health approach); and methodology for health impact assessment.
• Transformation of Health Systems: foundations for end-of-life care in the Basque Health Data Observatory.

The call is a commitment to strengthening the health system’s research capacity and attracting scientific talent: it opens doors to financing initial projects for emerging researchers, provides relief to those who combine clinical practice with research, and supports projects that translate knowledge back to clinical care. For hospitals, universities and research centres, the coming weeks will be the window for preparing applications.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Basque Country (BOPV), No. 153, 13 August 2026, “Other provisions” section, pp. 1-114 (official reference: 2026/3603).