Second round of funding for companies in the Industrial Doctorate Program

The Secretary for Universities and Research of the Government of Catalonia is convening the second round of funding for the Industrial Doctorates program. The funds are aimed at contributing to the competitiveness and internationalization of the Catalan industrial fabric, helping to retain talent and placing doctoral students capable of developing R&D&I projects in companies.

The Industrial Doctorate Plan is primarily based on the industrial doctorate project; that is, a strategic research project where the student carries out their doctoral thesis in a company and in collaboration with a university.

Companies can incorporate research personnel in training into their staff, who will bring added value to improve the competitiveness and internationalization of the company.  In addition, companies can avail of the university’s highly specialized equipment and infrastructure.

Funding types

Two types of funding are available depending on the characteristics of project implementation: these are co-funding and specific funding.

With the first type, co-funding, the company contracts the doctoral student, paying a minimum gross salary, and the duration of the cooperation agreement is three years. The Government of Catalonia covers the other expenses associated with the research work (doctorate fees, a student mobility fund, funding of the research group for development of the project, etc.). With the specific funding type the Government only provides a mobility fund for the doctoral student.

Both companies and universities can submit an application for funding via the Virtual Procedures Office (OCT) until November 3 2014. Prior to submitting an application, a candidate must be selected and a university-company cooperation agreement signed.