The Community of Madrid will increase pay for predoctoral research contracts by 20%, while offering 200 places in a combined call that had been expected to provide 500. The reduction follows the absence of a 2026 call and the removal of 50 places from the planned total, according to the information reported on the programme.

The new contracts will pay €30,000 gross a year for the first three years and €35,000 in the fourth year for researchers who obtain their doctorate. Under the previous rates, annual pay was €25,000 in the first two years, €26,800 in the third and €33,500 in the fourth. The regional government says the revised salaries put the programme among Spain’s most competitive in remuneration.

The Community has allocated €36 million to the 2027–2030 intake, €6 million more than the amount set aside for the new conditions. The article reports that the government avoided nearly €30 million in costs by not funding 250 researchers for four years from 2026 to 2029.

The merged call allows applicants who completed their master’s degree in June 2026, as well as candidates from earlier cohorts, to apply. Hundreds of prospective applicants had been waiting for information since June 2025. In the 2025 call, 700 applicants did not receive a place; the number could be higher this time, the report says.

DigniMad, an association representing researchers without stable positions, welcomed the salary increase but said pay remains below the €33,941 annual gross rate associated with the M3 professional category. Contracts also include €12,000 for research stays abroad and cover enrolment fees. The association described free doctoral courses as progress, while noting that Madrid’s annual fees are €390 and calling for researchers not to have to pay them upfront.

Workers and students at Madrid’s six public universities are called to strike on Wednesday and Thursday over what organisers describe as inadequate public-university funding, the privatisation and commercialisation of higher education, and political rights. The precariousness of research careers and the cost of living are among the concerns cited in the dispute.

The selection rules have also changed: publications produced during undergraduate or master’s studies will no longer count as merit. DigniMad said that requiring such work had encouraged some candidates to conduct unpaid research, but also warned that relying heavily on grade averages could disadvantage applicants without marks close to 10.

Sources: El País Sociedad.