The Social Observatory launches a new edition of the call to fund excellent, innovative and socially-oriented research projects. Proposals must generate new knowledge to broaden our understanding of the major challenges of today’s society, using quantitative methods.

Proposals will be submitted from 7 to 22 January 2026 and will be structured through a two-stage procedure.

Information session:

GOALS

• This call will support excellent social research projects that rely on robust quantitative evidence and an original and innovative approach to provide robust information to better understand current and emerging social challenges.

• Projects must be focused on Spain and/or Portugal.

 GRANTS

• Up to €115,000 per project and up to 24 months duration.

WHO CAN APPLY?

• The call is open to researchers who hold a PhD awarded more than 2 years before the call deadline as written in the Rules for participation (i.e. before 22nd January 2024).

• The call is aimed at supporting proposals led by individual researchers of any nationality who conduct their research activity at a non-profit organization: public or private university or research centre legally based in Spain or Portugal.

CALENDAR

Phase 1 - Application period (short proposals)

• Opening of the submission period for short proposals: 7th January 2026

• Submission deadline: 22nd January 2026, at 2 pm CET

• Evaluation of short proposals: February - March 2026

Phase 2 - Pre-selected proposals (full proposals)

• Opening of submission period for full proposals: March 2026

• Submission deadline: 23th April 2026, at 2 pm CET

• Evaluation phase 2.1: May 2026

• Evaluation phase 2.2 (interviews): 17th-18th June 2026

• Announcement of funded projects:  July 2026

  APPLICATION PROCEDURE

• The submission of proposals is structured incrementally through a two-phase procedure. Applicants will first submit a 3-page short proposal describing the research idea and the social challenge(s) addressed, taking into consideration its novel and innovative aspects.

• Applicants with successful short proposals will be invited to submit a full proposal of up to 15 pages providing detailed information on the project and the methodology. At this stage, applicants will also be required to submit a brief document regarding their research expertise and social and public sector expertise (1 page each).

• Both proposals and the documents required must be submitted in English. All information regarding this programme will be exclusively available in English.

CONTACT

• For any questions or queries please send an email to:  [email protected]
   

RESULTS OF THE CALL

Funded projects

List of evaluators

Summaries of the funded projects provided below:

• Effective Subsidies for Employment Creation
  Caterina Calsamiglia Costa, Barcelona Supercomputing Center

• Portugal's Labor-Market Shifts and Employment Effects of Artificial Intelligence
  Hugo Castro Silval, Insituto Superior Técnico
  

• The Political Implications of Accessibility Policie
  Pau Vall-Prat, Universitat de Barcelona

• Bridging Skill Gaps for Labor Market Reintegration: Identifying Reachable Skills
  Rodrigo Belo, Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE), Universidade de Lisboa

• Gender Stereotypes and Segregation: Evidence from Online Job Ads
  David Martinez de Lafuente, ISEAK Foundation

• Trust, Agency and Critical Thinking in AI
  Mireia Vendrell Morancho, Artificial Intelligence Research Institute- Spanish National Research Council (IIIA-CSIC)

• Spatial Housing Inequalities and Financialised Trajectories
  Riccardo Valente, Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics (CED-CERCA)

• Who benefits and who bears the costs? Social equity outcomes of marine protected areas in Portugal
  João Garcia Rodrigues,  CIIMAR

• Understanding and Addressing Chronic Youth Loneliness
  Silvia Cannas, Institut Barcelona Estudis Internacionals

• How Child Custody Disputes Become High-Conflict: A Longitudinal Systems Analysis
  Diogo Lamela, Universidade Lusófona

• Optimal counter-speech for Spanish adolescents: challenging racist hate in a national experiment
  Jehonathan Ben, Universidad Pontificia Comillas

• Public Policies and Equality in Firms
  Claudia Hupkau, CUNEF Universidad

• Causal Effects of Executive Function Training in Early Childhood
  María Hernández de Benito, CUNEF Universidad

• Taxation and high-income Mobility
  Dirk Foremny, Fundación Privada Institut d'Economia de Barcelona

• Quantifying Socio-Economic Barriers to Pharmaceutical Access in Portugal Using Digital Records
  Lília de Fátima Gomes Perfeito,  Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas (LIP)

• Invisible Choices: How Search Engines and LLMs shape political visibility and trust
  Joana Gonçalves Sá, LIP

• Understanding Digital Engagement in Early Childhood: Profiles and Developmental Outcomes
  Joana Baptista,  ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon

CALL DOCUMENTS 

Rules for participation

Assessment of proposals

Proposals must be submitted through the online platform designed for this purpose  (http://grants.lacaixafoundation.org/). Applications received via other channels will not be accepted. 

PHASE 1 DOCUMENTATION

Short proposal guidelines and checklist
 

User’s Guide Short Proposal Submission

Template short proposal


 

PHASE 2 DOCUMENTATION

Proposal selected for Phase 2
 

Full proposal guidelines and checklist

User's Guide Full Proposal Submission

Template full proposal

Template research expertise

Template public and social sector expertise

Proposals selected for the interview