Permanent Job Opportunities

The institute forms part of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC). As a public institution, CSIC periodically open "Permanent Job Calls," which are the way to achieve a permanent public position at CSIC as a civil servant. You may consult these at CSIC's Virtual Platform. There are 3 levels of permanent positions at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC): Tenured Scientist, Research Scientist and Research Professor.

The Spanish Research Council (CSIC) typically opens an annual call for permanent positions, but this does not guarantee that the IAE will have an open position / open positions each year. In general, the IAE Board must request positions from CSIC, submitting a list of highly qualified candidates who have expressed a strong interest in joining the institute. If you are interested, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

As a general rule, candidates should have a European Union citizenship, although there are a few exceptions to this. To apply for a tenured civil servant position, candidates who have completed their Ph.D. thesis abroad must have their doctoral degree homologated or at least received the equivalence in Spain. Equivalence is a simpler procedure, which implies acceptance for academic purposes, that the training passed to obtain the foreign degree master or doctorate, is comparable to that required in Spain, as well as to the degrees corresponding to a specific area and field. The main difference is that homologation entails professional and academic effects, while equivalence is only academic. For reference, the process of obtaining the equivalence of a foreign Ph.D. degree can take up to 5 months. Hence, when the process should be started before there is a call of a new permanent position.

If you need the recognition of equivalence of your doctoral degree, the body responsible for issuing it will be any Spanish public or private university on the following list, provided that they have in their teaching programmes a doctoral degree comparable to the one they intend to recognise. Each of them has its own specific process, being generally the required documents, very similar to each other. Some of the documents to be submitted will require an official translation into Spanish and might need require legalization. Within the European Union, the translation of public documents of a Member State is not required when they are accompanied by a standard multilingual form. The body in charge of carrying out the legalization will be the Spanish consular office in the country issuing the document, always bearing in mind that in the case of countries signing the Hague Convention legalization will NOT be followed, but the apostille procedure, before the competent authorities of the country issuing the document. Neither legalization nor apostille is required for academic documents issued by EU Member States, signatories to the EEA Agreement or Switzerland.

Another possibility to get a permanent job at the IAE is by gaining an ICREA Research Professorship. This does not require a European Citizenship but you need to have a very strong established research record.

ICREA, the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, is a foundation funded by the Catalan Government. In the field of social sciences, ICREA typically opens a call for permanent positions within the Catalan research system every two years for senior researchers. Those selected are awarded a permanent contract as ICREA Research Professors (tenure).

The selection of candidates for ICREA positions is based on peer evaluation and has scientific excellence and leadership as its sole criteria. There are five evaluation panels, covering all areas of knowledge, with some overlap to cater for interdisciplinary and emerging fields.

The basic concept for the evaluation is that it essentially depends on the judgment of high profile experts. ICREA fully endorses and shares the principles of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (SFDORA), by which it discourages evaluators to rely only on journal-based metrics (such as Journal Impact Factors) as a surrogate measure for the quality of individual research articles. For the purposes of research assessment, ICREA considers the value of all research output, including qualitative indicators of research impact, such as influence on policy and practice.

More information about requirements and conditions: here

There exist different types of European Research Council grants, depending on the stage of the research career. Starting grants are given to promising early career researchers with 2 to 7 years of experience after completing their Ph.D. Consolidator grants are for excellent researchers with 7 to 12 years of experience after obtaining their Ph.D. ERC advanced grants are for established researchers with a recognized track record of academic achievements. Another option is a Synergy grant for a group of two to four principal investigators working together and bringing different skills and resources to tackle ambitious research problems.

More information: https://erc.europa.eu/apply-grant

CSIC very often facilitates the creation of permanent positions for researchers holding an ERC grant, but this is not a guaranteed or automatic process. It often depends on factors such as the availability of positions, institutional priorities, and funding constraints. If you are considering this option, it is best to check with the IAE for the most accurate and up-to-date information.

The ATRAE Program is a funding initiative by the Spanish State Research Agency aimed at attracting established research talent. It supports the stable incorporation of senior researchers who have recently developed at least 5 years of their professional activity abroad into Spanish institutions by funding projects and providing financial support for hiring. Towards the end of the grant the beneficiary institution (IAE-CSIC) is required to open a permanent position with the research profile of the beneficiary candidate.
Candidates for the ATRAE program must have at least 8 years of experience after obtaining their Ph.D.

More information: https://www.aei.gob.es/gl/chamadas/buscador-chamadas/ayudas-incentivar-incorporacion-talento-consolidado-programa-atrae

The AXA Chair is a highly competitive funding program for senior researchers, designed to drive significant advancements in a research area aligned with the host institution’s long-term strategy. Initially awarded for a five-year period, the chair aims to establish a full-time academic position within the host institution and create a transformative impact on the career of the appointed AXA Professor. To be eligible, candidates must have completed their Ph.D at least 10 years prior to applying.

More information: https://axa-research.org/fund-your-research/axa-chairs