FCT joins forces with Call for Health Research 2026

The deadline for submitting applications for the 2026 edition of the Call for Health Research. This Call part of a program by the “la Caixa” Foundation, which the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) has joined under the existing partnership, through which it commits to matching the investment that the “la Caixa” Foundation allocates to selected research projects in Portugal.

For those interested, an information session on this Call is scheduled for October 8, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. (CET), which will take place online with mandatory registration.

The Call part of the Iberian Initiative for Biomedical Research and Innovation – i4b, which supports research projects in biomedicine and health by identifying and promoting initiatives of scientific excellence with potential and impact on society, through the funding of individual or consortium projects in the following thematic areas: neurosciences, oncology, cardiovascular diseases and associated metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, and enabling technologies in the above thematic areas.

Projects will have a maximum duration of three years. Applications may be submitted in the form of: Individual projects, submitted by a single research organization, which may request financial support of up to €500,000; or consortium projects, submitted by a minimum of two and a maximum of five research organizations, which may request financial support of up to €1,000,000. For more information, see the Call page.

Since 2018, 234 projects have been supported by Call for Health Research, with a total investment of €172.3 million. Of these, 72 projects were led by Portuguese institutions, representing support of around €50 million, of which the FCT contributed €16.3 million. The FCT also supported the participation of Portuguese institutions in nine projects led by Spanish institutions, with an investment of €2 million.