The IGOP organises its research activities around two kinds of projects:

Basic Research Projects: Financed by governmental research funds (European, Spanish and Catalan), through competitive tenders.

Applied Research Projects: Financed through competitive tenders or direct agreements between the IGOP and other public or private institutions interested in a very particular research, whose results should help to improve their work. The IGOP has mainly signed agreements with local governments, foundations and social action organizations.

Both kinds of research are crucial for the Institute. Basic research is necessary for the development of theory, and it allows for a consolidation and expansion of the IGOP’s presence in academic research networks. Applied research projects, on the other hand, help to keep the IGOP effectively linked to the social and institutional reality.

“The members of the Institut de Govern i Politiques Públiques (formerly Equip d’Anàlisi Politica) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona make up possibly the most important Spanish research group in the area of Political Science and Administration. His works were pioneers for the introduction in our country, at the beginning of the nineties, of the Public Policy approach and a decade later they constitute the point of reference in national studies related to decentralization, local space and citizen participation.”

Manuel Zafra and Ignacio Molina (2002)
Recensiones, en Revista Española de Ciencia Política, núm.7, octubre 2002, Madrid.