The Fully-Funded PhD Programme offered by The Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) is aimed at exceptional graduate students from all over the world, to support their enrolment in a training and research programme in the field of chemistry, ultimately leading to the completion of a Doctoral Thesis in partnership with the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV). The programme will also contribute to their professional career development, in the fields of academia and industry.

This objective is achieved by:

• The performance of an individual research project under the direction of an internationally renowned Group Leader, in a creative and stimulating scientific environment.
• Opportunities for short stays in distinguished international research institutions.
• Opportunities for complementary training in both technical and soft skills. Trainings are designed to ensure a successful career: weekly scientific seminars, hands-on training in the use of state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation, IP management, entrepreneurship, research integrity, knowledge and technology transfer, grant applications, project management, communication skills and career development. ICIQ offers a yearly personalized training programme for PhD students, SHARP, which takes place during the course of 2 weeks, with training focused on their given PhD year.

The programme is addressed to highly qualified and talented graduate students with a keen interest in chemical research. Candidates should have an excellent academic record, strong commitment to scientific research and a solid working knowledge of English.

Admission to the programme is on a competitive basis.

You can view the Fist PhD Call and project information here. 

Application process

The entire application process will be completed online. Applicants must apply by accessing ICIQ’s Career Portal. Applications sent by email or any other means will not be eligible.

Only one application per person will be considered. In case of multiple applications, only the first application submitted will be taken into consideration.

Please note that documents sent in hard copy cannot be processed.

Applicants should select only ONE PhD supervisor.

Once the application has been successfully completed, an acknowledgement e-mail will be automatically sent. Candidates must ensure that all the required documentation is included before submitting the application. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Eligibility and evaluation criteria

The programme is open to graduate students, from any nationality that fulfil the following eligibility criteria:

1. Candidates must have a Master’s or an equivalent degree in the areas of Chemistry, Pharmacy, Physics, Chemical Engineering or related disciplines that must be completed by the time of enrolment in the PhD programme.

When in doubt regarding the eligibility criteria, applicants should contact ICIQ’s People unit at positions@iciq.es prior to submission of the application.

Candidates who fulfil the eligibility criteria will be evaluated according to the following evaluation criteria:

1. Curriculum vitae.
2. Personal statement.
3. Academic marks.
4. English level.
5. Personal interview for short-listed candidates.

Grant Conditions

• The awardees of an ICIQ Fully-Funded PhD position will be considered research personnel in training and they will have an employment contract (a pre-doctoral contract) which is regulated in the Spanish Law 14/2011, of June 1^st, of Science, Technology and Education.
• Pre-doctoral contracts are renewed annually for up to 4 years. Renewal is subject to satisfactory performance in the PhD studies and related research activities.
• The gross yearly salary of the contract shall be split into 12 monthly payments and distributed as shown below:

                   First and Second year of PhD: 18.180,41€ /year

                   Third year of PhD: 19.479,01€ /year

                    Fourth year of PhD: 24.348,77€ /year

• The fellowship includes full social security coverage through the Spanish Social Security system, providing access to the Spanish public health care system and pension and unemployment benefits.
• The grant holder is entitled to temporarily interrupt the fellowship in the following situations: temporary disability, risk during pregnancy, maternity, paternity and adoption or foster care. The time elapsed during this interruption will not be accounted for against the total time.
• The contract will take effect on the date when the awarded student joins the centre.
• The Fully-Funded PhD includes the costs of enrolment in the PhD programme. These costs will be paid by each beneficiary to the university, and later they will be refunded by ICIQ. The PhD thesis has to be completed within 4 years.
• The PhD awardees will work full-time at ICIQ and may not receive any other fellowship or regular income.
• The Fully-Funded PhD position is incompatible with any other fellowship with the same purpose.

Available positions

Supervisor: Prof. Núria López

Project: Large language Models and Agents in Heterogeneous Catalysis

Number of positions: 1

Reference: PhD 2025-07 NL

Supervisor: Prof. Núria López

Project: Electrochemical conversion towards a circular economy.

Number of positions: 1

Reference: PhD 2025-08 NL

Supervisor: Dr. Luis Escobar

Project: Fundamental studies and applications of hybrid oligomers based on synthetic and biological scaffolds

Number of positions: 1

Reference: PhD 2025-09 LE

Supervisor: Prof. JR Galán-Mascarós

Project: Low temperature hydrogenation of dinitrogen to ammonia

Number of positions: 1

Reference: PhD 2025-10 JR

Supervisor: Prof. Feliu Maseras

Project: Computational study of material-supported homogenous complexes for reduction of carbon dioxide.

Number of positions: 1

Reference: PhD 2025-11 FM

Supervisor: Dr. Elisabet Romero

Project: Design and construction of bio-inspired chromophore-protein assemblies based on the quantum design of photosynthesis for their implementation into efficient and sustainable solar cells.

Number of positions: 1

Reference: PhD 2025-12 ER

Supervisor: Prof. Emilio Palomares

Project: Understanding the relationship between structure and performance of materials for energy applications.

Number of positions: 2

Reference: PhD 2025-13/14 EP

Supervisor: Prof. Julio Lloret

Project: AI-driven robotics for catalyst development.

Number of positions: 1

Reference: PhD 2025-15 JLL

Supervisor: Prof. Rubén Martín

Project: Chain-Walking as Enabling Vehicle for Remote Functionalization.

Number of positions: 1

Reference: PhD 2025-16 RM

Supervisor: Prof. Beatriz Prieto

Project: Wearable biosensing technology to guide antibiotic therapy.

Number of positions: 1

Reference: PhD 2025-17 BP

Supervisor: Dr. Felipe Garcés/Prof. JR Galán-Mascarós

Project: Materials Engineering: Towards efficient and cost-effective electrolyzer technologies (ECOTECH)

Number of positions: 1

Reference: PhD 2025-18 FG/JR

Supervisor: Prof. Katherine Villa

Project: Artificial Phototactic Microswimmers for Precise Light-Guided Navigation.

Number of positions: 1

Reference: PhD 2025-19 KV