In 2025, at IRTA (Institute of Agri-food Research and Technologies) we have awarded 43 grants under the Research Incentives programme, an initiative promoted by the Scientific Directorate to strengthen the professional development of our staff and boost the Institute’s scientific capacity.
Since the programme started in 2021, it has become consolidated as a tool to promote excellence and facilitate knowledge exchange between different programmes and centres.
We have awarded 4 grants to researchers with stable or tenure-track positions to carry out stays of one to three months in international research centres. At the same time, we awarded 9 grants to PhD students at the Institute to do stays of three to four months.
This year we created, for the first time, a specific grant line for technical staff providing direct support to research. This initiative aims to enable short stays in other IRTA facilities so that staff can enhance their training and broaden their skills in different environments. In this first edition, grants have been awarded, promoting internal knowledge exchange across programmes and centres.
For example, thanks to this grant, a laboratory technician moved to learn an HPLC amino-acid analysis in another programme — enabling sample preparation internally from now on, lowering costs and gaining autonomy. irta.cat Another technician is using the support to train in molecular techniques at a different centre, strengthening training in DNA extraction, genotyping and phenotyping.
The Research Incentives also include support to projects by hiring early-career researchers. In this edition we awarded 5 grants linked to staff with Ramón y Cajal-type grants, and 6 grants for staff with permanent or tenure-track positions under “IRTA Consolida”, across various programmes (Fruit growing, Animal Nutrition, Animal Health, Food Safety & Functionality, Post-harvest).
Additionally, we supported 14 projects aligned with the 8 Scientific Objectives of the IRTA Strategic Plan 2024–2027. This year we received proposals for 7 of those objectives — all submitted by pairs of researchers from different programmes, strengthening cross-programme collaboration.
The projects focus on areas such as digital transformation, water management, carbon capture, waste valorization, alternative protein, animal health and welfare, or resilience to emerging biological risks.
With this edition, the Research Incentives continue to consolidate as a key tool supporting staff development. This set of measures enables addressing real needs of the teams, while reinforcing IRTA projects with the ambition to meet its defined objectives.
