Deadline: 05 February 2025

‘La Caixa’ Foundation is offering 100 fellowships to pursue postgraduate studies (predoctoral) at universities in any country in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region. The call for applications covers all areas of knowledge and only Spanish and Portuguese candidates who pursued their bachelor studies in Spain and Portugal, respectively, are eligible.

Duration

Fellowships will be awarded for one academic year – which under no circumstances may be less than 9 months – and may be extended for a second academic year, up to a maximum of 24 months.

Eligibility

The fellowships are intended for master’s or doctoral studies, which must start with the fellowship. Predoctoral scientific and technical research stays are also accepted.

Those individuals who have earned all the credits for a bachelor’s degree between January 2016 and July 2025 are eligible to apply for the fellowship, provided that the bachelor degree is awarded by a Spanish university (Spanish candidates) or a Portuguese university (Portuguese candidates).

Candidates who have completed a bachelor’s degree abroad before the start of the fellowship are not eligible for this call.

Applicants must accredit their proficiency in a foreign language by submitting specific certificates mentioned in the notice of the call. Under no circumstances will any other certificate be accepted, despite being issued by the same organisations and/or accredit equivalence with any of the accepted levels.

Funding

The fellowship covers:

• Tuition fees of the university where the fellow has been admitted to, with no limits to the amount;
• Monthly allowance, which is due from the date the study programme starts. The amount of the allowances will vary depending on the host country;
• Initial amount equivalent to a monthly allowance, depending on the host country, for settling-in expenses, attendance at congresses and seminars;
• Travel expenses;
• Final amount of 250 € for expenses related to the awarding of the degree, accreditation of the marks received, and other administrative expenses that may arise from the completion of the studies for which the fellowship was awarded;
• Cost of up to five application fees to host universities;
• Student visa issuance fee, if required by the host country;
• Prior meeting sessions before the start of the fellowship;
• Health and accident insurance.

How to apply

The application must be completed entirely in English.

Using the application platform, candidates must complete the formalities to obtain, prior to the deadline for applications, at least three reference letters from university professors or other relevant individuals with whom they have had contact either academically or professionally.

The candidates whose applications have passed the shortlisting stage will be called in for an interview before a multidisciplinary committee, comprised of professors and researchers with extensive experience in selection processes by peer review. The candidates who pass the shortlisting stage and are not awarded a fellowship may be eligible for a loan under favorable conditions. To this end, a specific process will be put in place for access to funding.

The application guide and supporting documents of the evaluation procedure are available here.