What proposals can be submitted?

Applications related to Bachelor’s final projects, master’s or postgraduate final projects, work associated with a doctoral thesis, or any research related to the topics of this call can be submitted.

Research proposals must not yet be developed. The development of the project will be carried out once the grant has been awarded.

Candidacies from any nationality are accepted.

Consult all the requirements in the rules.

Each granted research project will receive the amount of €2,000.

In addition to the financial aid, the Pau Casals UNESCO Chair offers:

• Support and assistance in the development of the project by the selection committee, the Pau Casals Foundation team and the UOC team.
• Dissemination and publication of the project through the communication media of the Chair, the Pau Casals Foundation and the UOC.
• Access to the Pablo Casals Collection located at the Nacional Archive of Catalonia.
• Publication of the research work in the form of digital publication within the “Papers of the Chair” collection accessible online on the Chair’s website with the possibility of publishing it on the websites of the Pau Casals Foundation and the UOC.
• Support and advice in possible job publications.

A selection committee shall evaluate the applications submitted by applying the assessment criteria set out in these rules and shall draw up the respective report. The members of the selection committee are:

Alfons Martinell (co-director of the Chair)

Holds a PhD in Education from the University of Girona and a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Arts from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He is a member of the Spanish Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). He served as Director General for Cultural and Scientific Relations at the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), part of Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is Honorary Director of the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policies and Cooperation and Emeritus Professor at the University of Girona. In 2024, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts by the Spanish Council of Ministers.

Bernard Meillat 

Musical advisor to the Pau Casals Foundation and artistic director of the Pau Casals International Music Festival. He has been director of Radio Classique in Paris (1991-2005) and Musiq’3 RTBF in Brussels (2006-2012).

Marc Gil 

He holds a PhD in History from the UB and teaches Contemporary History and Current World at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the UOC. Specialist in contemporary history of the Spanish State (Francoism and transition) and in history of the current world (history of international relations). He has been awarded the Serra d’Or Criticism Prize for Research 2018 in the humanities category in recognition of his work Barcelona in the service of the “New State”. Depuration of the City Council during the first Franco regime. He is a member of the consolidated research group IdentiCat of the UOC.

Miguel Ángel Elizalde

Doctor in Public International Law from UPF and degree in Law (ELDC/ULE). Currently, he is director of the Master’s in Human Rights, Democracy and Globalization (UOC) and Collaborating Professor at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.

Joan Fuster-Sobrepere (co-director of the Chair)

Senior Professor. Former Director of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). Holds a PhD in History from Pompeu Fabra University, a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Cultural Institution Management from ESADE Business School’s Executive Education programme. He is a member of the Identicat consolidated research group. His research focuses on the political and cultural history of contemporary Catalonia, with particular emphasis on the city of Barcelona.

Jordi Pardo

Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geography and History and a Master’s degree from ESADE. He was a member of UNESCO’s Expert Facility on Cultural Policies and Governance (2011–2015) and served on the European Commission’s panel of experts for the European Capitals of Culture programme (2012–2016). He has directed and advised cultural projects in countries across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and has been a visiting professor at several universities in Spain.

Núria Ballester 

Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a Master’s degree in Cultural Heritage Management and Museology from the University of Barcelona. She is Director of the Pau Casals Museum and has extensive experience in the management, conservation, research, and promotion of cultural heritage. She is responsible for the management of Pau Casals’s collections and documentary archives.

Pepe Reche 

Performer and researcher, teacher and disseminator, and manager of educational and cultural projects. French horn player specialized in early music (ESMUC) and PhD in Musicology (UAB) with the thesis The French horn quartet of the Pau Casals Orchestra. His fields of research interest are around the historical French horn players in Barcelona and their repertoires, as well as the study of the profession of musician between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. He has won the Musical Essay Prize of Juventudes Musicales de Cataluña (JM Catalonia) and FICTA Ediciones.

Pau Casals and the Nobel Peace Prize: A candidacy during the Cold War

Project submitted by Joan Esculies Serrat, PhD in History from Universitat Pompeu Fabra and is an Associate Professor at Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya.

Research context

This study undertakes an in-depth analysis of the support campaigns, nomination process, media coverage, and challenges related to Pau Casals’ candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize. The renowned Catalan cellist was nominated on three occasions — in 1956, 1958, and 1959 — yet, contrary to popular belief and frequent references in the media, as well as in educational and academic works, he was only a finalist in the first of these instances.

Research objectives

To conduct a thorough investigation that provides previously unpublished documentation, aiming to establish a reliable account of the events and to contextualize Casals’ candidacy within the framework of the Cold War and the political relations between Europe and the United States during the 1950s.

Music Against Conscription: Cultural Resistance and Anti-Militarist Protest in Spain (1984–2002)

Project sumbmitted by Andrés López Estapé and Violeta Caballero Caballero, researchers at the Instituto de la Paz y los Conflictos (IPAZ), Granada.

Research context

The anti-militarist musical culture that emerged in Spain during the 1980s and 1990s constitutes a paradigmatic case of how artistic production became a vehicle for political expression, social cohesion, and active resistance against an imposed military framework. This study seeks to recover and critically examine this historical memory, emphasizing the pivotal role of music as a form of nonviolent action and as a catalyst for social transformation.

Research objectives

To describe and interpret the role of music within the cultural resistance led by Spanish conscientious objectors between 1984 and 2002. The study will address both the internal dimension—focusing on processes of social cohesion and mobilization within the movement—and the external dimension—analyzing the construction of legitimizing narratives aimed at influencing public opinion and expanding social support.