The IAC budget is made up from the contributions provided by the Spanish National Administration and by the Canary Islands’ Regional Government, and significantly complemented by external funding (an additional 40% on average), which is obtained mainly via competitive sources, agreements, bids and contracts.

The IAC competes in national grant funding rounds, as well as under international calls, especially under the EC Framework Programmes. The success rate varies significantly from one funding programme to another, as well as depending on the activity to be funded (infrastructures, research, training, etc.). On average, during the last years, around 30% of this external funding is obtained from EU funding programs and 70% under national programmes. One new proposal for funding is prepared and submitted every week. More than half of them are approved, and around 7 million euro per year (on average) is being generated. Additionally, and related to the operation of the Observatorios de Canarias, another 2 M€ approximately are obtained in the framework of the International Agreement of Cooperation in Astrophysics and managed by the IAC every year. Finally, private entities also contribute to the Research and Training Program of the IAC with a total of approximately 350 K€/year.

This section shows detailed information on those proposals granted by national or international funding sources to the IAC in recent years.