17 March 2026
Bilbao
PhD student Ainhoa Santos has received one of the 60 new INPhINIT doctoral grants, part of a total of 100 awards that also include Junior Leader postdoctoral grants, granted by “la Caixa” Foundation to outstanding researchers to carry out their projects at universities and research centres in Spain and Portugal. These grants have a dual aim: to retain and attract talent to promote excellent research in these countries. They not only provide competitive salaries but also include a robust programme of transversal training.
In the case of the doctoral grants, which Ainhoa Santos has received to pursue a PhD in Leisure, Culture, and Communication for Human Development, the training programme reinforces areas such as scientific communication, researchers’ emotional well-being, leadership, and funding opportunities. On the other hand, the postdoctoral grants are designed to support an independent research career, promoting innovation and leadership as core pillars of professional development.
Ainhoa Santos, born in Bilbao in 1999, holds a degree in English Literature from King’s College London and a Master’s in Creative Writing from the University of Oxford. In 2025, she completed a second Master’s in Interdisciplinary Intervention with Victims of Gender-Based Violence at the International University of Valencia. She is currently working as a PhD researcher in theatre and gender at the University of Deusto.
Her thesis explores the staging of sexual acts and other forms of intimacy in contemporary theatre. Specifically, Ainhoa is interested in the dynamics that arise among performers when rehearsing acts that may be physically and emotionally sensitive, as well as the growing role of intimacy directors in the sector.
Her work as a researcher also explores applied theatre for education on gender-based violence, consent, and healthy relationships, both in Spain and the United Kingdom. All of her research is grounded in a feminist and international gender perspective. Ainhoa is also a writer of theatre and literature for both children and adults.
Recognition of Talent
The doctoral and postdoctoral grants from the “la Caixa” Foundation recognise the talent and dedication of the researchers who receive them. Each of the projects has the potential to generate new knowledge, open up avenues for innovation, and provide solutions to challenges that directly affect citizens’ well-being and contribute to building a better future for all. “At ‘la Caixa’ Foundation, we aim to support brilliant minds so they can develop their ideas under the best possible conditions and foster a scientific ecosystem capable of transforming realities,” explained Josep Maria Coronas, the foundation’s Director General, during the awards ceremony on 17 March at the CosmoCaixa Science Museum in Barcelona.
“La Caixa” Foundation Grants Programme is one of the most significant among those promoted by private organisations in Spain and Europe, both in terms of the number of awards granted and the diversity of disciplines covered. In total, the foundation will allocate more than €22 million to this round of doctoral and postdoctoral grants. Both programmes have been co-financed by the European Commission through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND actions under the Horizon 2020 framework programme. The INPhINIT doctoral grants are valued at €161,200 each, while the Junior Leader postdoctoral grants are worth €320,100 each.
Grant recipient profile
Of the 100 recipients selected in this edition, 41 are Spanish and 59 are international, coming from 25 different countries. Among them, the country with the highest number of recipients is Italy with 14, followed by Portugal with 12, Germany with 5, and Belgium and Poland with 3 each.
The grants have been distributed across more than 70 research centres and universities in Spain and Portugal. In terms of disciplines, engineering and biomedical technology lead the list with 8 recipients. They are followed by astronomy and astrophysics, as well as cellular biology, with 6 recipients each. Meanwhile, basic neuroscience, theoretical and mathematical physics, molecular biology and biochemistry, and oncology each have 5 recipients.
