R&D projects at the CTTC are organized in four main categories: European, National, Catalan, and industrial contracts.
To a large extent, European projects in which CTTC participates are funded under the umbrella of the Seventh Framework Program (FP7) and Horizon 2020 Program (H2020) of the European Commission. This includes the so-called Collaborative Projects (Integrating Projects or IPs, and Specific Targeted Research Projects or STREPs) and Networks of Excellence (NoE). Besides, the Center also takes part in a number of Marie Curie and COST Actions. Specifically, in 2014 the Center participated in 15 projects, 4 IPs, 3 STREPs, 2 NoEs, 2 Marie Curie Actions and 3 COST Actions. CTTC is currently leading 4 of those projects.
National projects receive funding from the various Spanish ministries. As an example, the National Plan for Fundamental Research of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) aims to support fundamental research projects across all disciplines. Complementary, the Plan Avanza of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism funds research activities of a more applied nature conducted in collaboration with the industry (in some cases, in the context of international consortia). At the regional level, the SGR program (Suport als Grups de Recerca) for instance, aims to fund well-established research groups in Catalonia. In 2014, CTTC participated in 20 projects ( 10 MINECO, 1 SUMA, 4 recognize by AGAur, 3 VALORTEC, ACCIÓ, 1 ENIAC and 1 ARTEMIS)
Finally, industrial projects are based on direct contracts and agreements with companies. In 2014, CTTC worked in 20 of such projects. Out of them, 7 were in collaboration with by national companies, and 13 with international ones, based in Europe, the United States or Asia.