INPhINIT Host Centres: Where Incoming Fellows Can Do Their PhD

For Retaining, the host can be any university or research centre in Spain or Portugal. For Incoming, the host must be one of four kinds of accredited centre. The host must still hold that accreditation on the day your contract begins, so check again when you accept.

The four accepted lists for Incoming

The Foundation publishes a PDF for each list on the Incoming call page. Counts below are from the 2026 lists.

Centres can enter or leave these lists between years. Always use the list attached to the call you are applying to.

STEM only — even inside a listed centre

The Incoming call is limited to technology, engineering, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and life and health sciences. A few accredited centres work outside those fields — the Severo Ochoa list includes the Barcelona School of Economics, for example — but the field rule still applies to your PhD. If your project is in economics, humanities or social science, the Retaining call is the one that covers all disciplines, provided you meet its residence rule.

How to choose a host

You name your intended doctoral studies in the “Studies to be pursued” section of the form. The rules say this choice is provisional: you need no admission letter or endorsement from the programme director to apply, and you may keep exploring alternatives during selection.

That does not make the choice unimportant. Evaluators score the suitability of the host institution as part of the motivation criterion, worth 30% at both shortlisting and interview. A vague choice reads as a vague plan. A sensible approach:

1. 1
   Start from the research question

   Write down the problem you want to work on in two sentences. Then search the four lists for groups publishing on it.

2. 2
   Shortlist two or three groups

   Read their recent papers, current projects and who has graduated from them. Note the doctoral programme and university each centre’s students enrol in.

3. 3
   Check the doctoral programme

   Research centres do not award degrees. You will enrol at a Spanish or Portuguese university, so confirm its admission requirements for your degree.

4. 4
   Contact the group — at least once shortlisted

   The FAQ recommends shortlisted candidates contact host institutions, and the rules encourage it. Many applicants write before the deadline so the statement of purpose can mention a concrete fit.

Centre-advertised INPhINIT positions

Some accredited centres and universities publish their own “INPhINIT” adverts listing groups willing to host a fellow. These are recruitment notices, not separate calls: you still apply to the Foundation through its own platform, and the Foundation still makes the award. Use them as a map of willing supervisors, and check every date against the official rules.

What the host does once you win

The fellowship becomes effective when you and the host agree terms. The host then hires you with Foundation funds under an employment contract that follows the rules for research personnel in training. In Portugal the same economic conditions apply whether the relationship is an employment contract or a fellowship contract. The host manages your €3,500 annual research budget and pays your salary monthly. The rules say fellows should preferably hold a CaixaBank or BPI account for those payments, though the FAQ is clear you do not need to be a customer to apply.

Co-supervised theses are allowed. The host appoints your thesis supervisor; the Foundation adds an optional mentor and its own training programme on top.