The CIGUS Network achieves a new milestone for R&D&I by securing an €11-million project that will allow the hiring of 40 postdoctoral researchers

• The Xunta secures European funds from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND programme for the first time, to be complemented by a further €5.4 million in regional funding.
• The scientists, who will receive financial support over the next five years, will be able to carry out their work at one of the ten CIGUS research centres

The CIGUS Network has, for the first time, been awarded a European Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) COFUND project, which will enable the recruitment of 40 postdoctoral researchers over the next five years within this network of leading university research centres. The project, named TALENTGAL, has a total budget exceeding €11 million, of which €5.6 million is funded by the European Union, with the remainder provided by the Xunta de Galicia with the support of the network’s centres.

“This represents a new milestone for our R&D&I,” said Román Rodríguez, Regional Minister for Education, Science, Universities and Vocational Training. “It will also allow us to hire 40 professionals who already hold doctorates to conduct research in specialised areas at the most prestigious centres of our public universities,” he added.

Presented by the Xunta in collaboration with Galicia’s three public universities, the CIGUS Network, and FEUGA, the project promotes career development in research and supports scientific integrity, knowledge transfer, and entrepreneurship. The new researchers joining the CIGUS centres will focus on key areas for Galicia such as biotechnology, medicine, chemistry, nanomaterials, ICT, environmental engineering, marine sciences, and physics, among others.

Beyond their research, the 40 postdoctoral researchers will receive complementary training in transferable skills, as well as personalised support and mentoring. The aim is to foster industrial collaboration, intersectoral mobility, and engagement with broader audiences, helping to improve their career prospects. Additionally, they will undertake mandatory placements in academic institutions, companies, and public administrations, further broadening their professional opportunities.

The programme also benefits from a wide network of more than 40 partners from various sectors, scientific fields, and countries, including academic institutions and universities, industrial leaders, SMEs, research infrastructures, and technology centres.

In this year’s MSCA COFUND call, which had a budget of €105.6 million, 31 projects were awarded —14 predoctoral and 17 postdoctoral— selected from the 136 proposals received (77 predoctoral and 66 postdoctoral). Spain ranked as the second country with the highest number of applications submitted, just after France, with a total of 14 proposals.

The CIGUS Network comprises ten research centres across Galicia’s three public universities (USC, UVigo, and UDC) and includes more than 1,600 researchers. Under this framework, the Xunta funds, promotes, and coordinates university research of excellence. Over the past five years, it has secured more than €221 million in competitive projects, representing a significant economic return to a network that has received nearly €68 million from the Xunta. In the current call, where eight centres renewed their accreditation and two new centres joined, the regional government increased its contribution by 31%, reflecting its strong commitment to advancing R&D&I.