UMH Secures €149,600 to Strengthen Its Leadership in European and International Projects
Improving the attraction of European funding for scientific research, knowledge transfer, and researcher mobility is one of the main objectives of the strategic internationalization project of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH). To this end, the university has secured funding of €149,600 from the 2024–2027 State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research.
This grant will make it possible to strengthen UMH’s internal structures in order to increase its participation and leadership in the European Union’s Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, and other international programs. The funds will be implemented between January 1, 2026, and December 31, 2027, and are aimed at enhancing the institution’s competitiveness in attracting European funding.
This milestone forms part of UMH’s well-established track record in securing European and international research funding, as well as its leadership in highly competitive project calls.
The funding will be primarily allocated to hiring specialized technical staff within the International Research Projects Area of the Research Management Service, which reports to the Vice-Rectorate for Research and Knowledge Transfer. This reinforcement will make it possible to intensify support for UMH’s research staff—comprising 1,270 lecturers and researchers—particularly in projects in which the university can act as the coordinating institution.
Currently, this service provides support in identifying calls for proposals, preparing applications, administrative coordination, and advising on intellectual property and international consortia. The new funding will allow these strategic functions to be expanded and consolidated.
Thanks to this boost, UMH will have more tools to promote and manage international projects and will be able to facilitate the integration, consolidation, and leadership of its research staff within the global scientific arena.
The State Plan call, managed by the State Research Agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, pursues a dual objective: on the one hand, to increase Spain’s economic return through greater R&D&I funding from the European Union and other international bodies; on the other, to strengthen the leadership of Spanish institutions within the European and international research ecosystem.
For UMH, this funding reinforces an internationalization trajectory that began with the Fifth Framework Programme and was consolidated in its 2022–2025 Strategic Plan, which prioritizes increasing the international impact of research through specialized structures.
UMH’s internationalization strategy focuses, among other aspects, on promoting coordinated projects and increasing institutional visibility; encouraging participation in highly competitive calls such as the European Research Council (ERC), the European Innovation Council (EIC), and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA); fostering the involvement of emerging profiles with leadership potential; and creating favorable structural conditions for attracting and retaining international talent.