Aurora Research Council Meets In URV To Evaluate International Research And Education Projects

On 29 and 30 June 2026, the Aurora Research Council (ARC) met at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) to evaluate 45 eligible proposals received under the Aurora Call for Incentive Research and Education Collaboration 2026. Aurora Research Council (ARC) members at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV)

High Interest For New Aurora Call

Third call since its launch in 2024, this year’s Aurora call includes a new element that aims to address the intersection between research and education. The new scheme aims to fund joint collaborative research and educational actions in one or more Aurora thematic educational hubs: Sustainability and Climate Change, Digital Society and Global Citizenship, Health and Wellbeing, Culture: Identities and Diversities, Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Peace Education. A total of 45 eligible proposals were submitted from Aurora member universities:

• 19 proposals under Key Action 1. Exploratory and Collaborative Research Projects and projects integrating research and education.
• 4 proposals under Key Action 2. Thematic Schools and Intensive Research Seminars.
• 22 proposals under Key Action 3. Short-term Secondments for Research and/or Training for Early-stage Researchers.

Rigorous Evaluation And Selection Process

The objective of the two-day meeting in Tarragona was to yield a funding recommendation following the ARC members’ thorough review, evaluation, and ranking process of the proposals submitted. For this third edition of the call, a total budget of €240,000 – including contributions from Aurora universities – is available to fund projects under all three Key Actions. The ARC will share the results of the evaluation with Institutional Coordinators of member universities at the end of August 2026. The funding proposal will then be further validated by the vice-rectors for research and education at Aurora universities. Final decision, along with the list of selected projects, will be announced in early September 2026.

The European Context

The Aurora Call for Incentive Research and Education Collaboration is one of several initiatives to build the Aurora research and innovation community, boost joint research and educational collaborations, and support the development of projects with the potential to secure funding through future competitive European programmes. Aurora’s continued commitment to tight cooperation comes at a critical time of ongoing debate on European research policies. More recently, Aurora – together with other European networks and alliances – joined calls for a more ambitious budget for the EU’s next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10), and for the continuing support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) as a key instrument for researcher training, international mobility and talent development.