SGAE Foundation - Research Award

What the SGAE Foundation research awards give you

You will receive a cash prize for research in the field of culture. There are three categories: 3,000 EUR for the best research project (a Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis), 6,000 EUR for the best doctoral thesis, or a 6,000 EUR grant to help you complete a doctoral thesis that is not yet finished. The completion grant will be paid in two instalments: 25% upon acceptance of the grant and 75% following approval of your doctoral thesis. The thesis must be approved within 30 months. If you agree, the foundation may publish your thesis or an extract from it. The Fundación SGAE, the cultural foundation of the Spanish copyright society, awards the prizes once a year.

Who can apply

• Who you are: You are affiliated with a public or private research centre that works on the topics covered by the call for entries. You may also apply as a group of co-authors; in this case, the prize money will be divided equally amongst the participants.
• Nationality and residence: Anyone can apply, regardless of which country they’re from or where they live.
• Field: Your research project must focus on the current cultural market in the fields of the performing arts, music, audiovisual media or multimedia in Spain or Ibero-America. It must fall within one of the following fields: sociology of culture, cultural economics, cultural policy, communication and culture, cultural management or cultural law. Research on intellectual property is the subject of a separate call for proposals and cannot be submitted here.
• Best doctoral thesis: Your thesis was approved after 01 January 2024 and runs at least 200 pages. You cannot resubmit works entered in earlier editions.
• Best research work: Your completed bachelor's or master's final project was approved after 01 January 2024 and runs at least 60 pages.
• Completion grant: You have a doctoral thesis that has not yet been completed. You must submit a project plan setting out your objectives, methodology, bibliography and timetable, together with a letter from your supervisor.
• Language: You may write in any of Spain’s official languages. The Foundation reserves the right to request a translation into Castilian (Spanish) for the jury.

How to apply

Registration and submission are carried out online via the Fundación SGAE website. The deadline for the 2026 competition is 22 October 2026 at 23:59. A jury comprising university professors from the relevant departments will assess all entries submitted; their decision is final.

How realistic are your chances?

This award has very strict eligibility criteria. Your work must relate to a specific area of cultural research and focus on the Spanish or Latin American cultural market. Consequently, the pool of eligible entries is far smaller than that for an open scholarship. If your dissertation or project clearly falls within this scope and was approved during the relevant period, you will be competing against a limited number of applicants. As there is only one winner per category each year, a precise and targeted submission will stand out in particular.