The ‘Pla de Recerca I Investigacio de Catalunya’ (PRI) 2005-2008 has, amongst other objectives, the facilitation of the transition towards an economy and a knowledge based society, through the promotion of policies concerning information and communication technologies (TIC).

These policies are mainly focused on some priority lines, in which Cataluña has got strengths and opportunities, such as infrastructure, communication media and health.

The objective of this competition is to grant financial aids to support research and/or innovation projects, which aim to promote the use of the ‘TIC’ (information and communication technologies) and incorporate improvements in the health sector, especially in the concerns of diagnostics, attention to disabled people, safety of patients, management of the medication at medical centres and hospitals, the cognitive rehabilitation and the visualisation and radiological valuation of digital mammography images.

The beneficiaries can be Catalan universities and non-profit non-university institutions located in Cataluña, which have amongst their activities the development, technological innovation and the transfer of knowledge.

The project needs to be implemented within a two-year period, from the end date of the acceptance presentation period. The maximum amount granted is 100,000 Euros.

The applications, in agreement with the standardised procedure, will need to be made by the person in charge of the project, with the agreement of the vice-chancellor competent in the subject or the director of the university, hospital or research centre, and will have to be presented in paper, as well as an electronic format, at the AGAUR register.

The applications can also be presented at the Post Office, in an open envelope, so that the application is stamped or dated by the Post Office employee before registering it.

The standard form for the application and the rules of the competition can be obtained at the AGAUR offices (Via Laietana, 28, 2a planta, 08003 Barcelona), in their webpage http://www.gencat.cat/agaur and in the CUR webpage http://www.gencat.cat/cur .