Talents Programme

The Talents Programme seeks to promote the research of healthcare professionals and retain their talent in our country. Post-residency assistance for young medical specialists and healthcare professionals considered outstanding and prominent in each of their fields of specialisation who want to undertake a research project for their doctoral thesis while remaining associated with the care provided at the hospital. It also includes assistance for the reinforcement of research addressed to senior specialist physicians, to reaffirm the research vocation of health professionals in parallel to healthcare activity.

The Foundation launched the Talents Programme in the midst of the economic crisis in 2012 to provide job continuity to medical residents at the Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol. Both entities, in conjunction with the Germans Trias i Pujol Health Sciences Research Institute (IGTP), promote the ‘Germans Trias Talents’ research grant programme.

The assistance will soon be expanded to nursing professionals and primary care physicians in order to help them conduct research projects just after they complete their residency. In 2016, the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona joined the ‘Clínic-La Pedrera Research Assistance’ and the ‘Nursing Reinforcement La Pedrera-Clínic’ assistance. 

Just as important as providing opportunities to young researchers so they can launch their careers in a research project is providing their more senior colleagues with the space and time to research, since it is more difficult for them to finish their initial projects because of the commitments in their healthcare jobs. This is why in 2017 the reinforcement grants for senior medical specialists at the Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol and the IGTP were expanded with the ‘Sapiens’ grants, and in 2018 with the ‘Clínic-La Pedrera Research Reinforcement Grants’ from the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. In 2018 as well, the Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol announced the ‘Trias Advances’ grant for innovation projects in the hospital environment.

In 2019, the Vall d’Hebron Oncology Institute (VHIO) joined with the ‘VHIO-Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation Post-Residency Research Assistance’.  Finally, in 2020, the Bellvitge University Hospital is incorporated.

The Talents Assistance is targeted at young medical specialists and nurses who have completed their specialised training (residency) at the hospital, are considered outstanding and prominent in each of their fields of specialisation, and are currently developing a research project at one of the partner centres while they also want to remain associated with the care provided at the hospital. 

The Research Reinforcement Grants are targeted at more senior researchers who find it more difficult to finish their research projects underway because of the commitments in their healthcare jobs. These grants attempt to give these professionals the space and time to finish their projects. The candidates must be associated with the healthcare provided at one of the partner centres. 

The winning projects and candidates encompass a broad range of different medical, nursing and primary care specialities.
 

The applications for Talents Assistance and Research Reinforcement Grants are processed internally in the centre or hospital. The research projects submitted in each of the calls for applications are evaluated by a medical committee at the hospital, which chooses the winners. The economic assistance is granted according to the excellence criteria established by mutual agreement between the partner centres and the Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation. For more information and applications, please inquire at each centre.