Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca - Support for doctoral dissertations written in the Catalan language

Support for doctoral dissertations in Catalan (TDCAT)

You will receive a one-off payment of up to 1,000 EUR to cover the administrative fees and costs associated with the completion of your PhD and the awarding of your doctoral degree. This is not a monthly research grant, but a bonus paid out once you have successfully defended a doctoral thesis written in Catalan. The total budget for this call for applications is 80,000 EUR, which will be divided amongst all eligible applicants; therefore, your actual payment may be less than 1,000 EUR if there are many applicants. As a rule, around 130 grants are awarded. The funds come from the Catalan Ministry of Research and Universities and are administered by AGAUR, the Catalan Agency for University and Research Funding.

Who can apply

• Degree: You defended your doctoral thesis in the year specified in the call for applications and were awarded your doctoral degree. For the call for applications 2026, this means that the doctoral theses were defended in the year 2025.
• Where you studied: You obtained your PhD from a higher education institution within the Catalan higher education system or from any higher education institution outside Spain.
• Language: Your dissertation is written in Catalan. It will also be considered if it has a European or international focus and at least the abstract and conclusions are written in Catalan, or if it is a collection of publications whose unpublished sections are written in Catalan.
• Repository: You have uploaded your thesis to the Tesis Doctorals en Xarxa (TDX) online repository, and it is publicly accessible before 31 December of the call year.
• Field of study: Any topic is allowed.
• Nationality: Any nationality can apply.

How to apply

You must submit your application online via the Generalitat de Catalunya’s procedures portal, using the standard form with an electronic signature. For the 2026 call for applications, the application window runs from 20 May to 22 June 2026, until 14:00 on the last day of the application deadline. There is no application fee.

How realistic are your chances?

This scholarship is very selective. You must already hold a PhD with a thesis written in Catalan, which keeps the pool of applicants small. With around 130 scholarships awarded each year, most people who clearly meet the criteria and submit a complete application by the deadline do in fact receive funding. Please note that the fixed budget of 80,000 EUR is divided amongst all recipients, so a high number of applicants may result in your individual grant falling below the maximum amount of 1,000 EUR.