Big changes afoot in Spain

The unexpected victory of the Socialist party in Spain's March 14 general elections may have significant implications for the way science is conducted in the country.Although the party hasn't been able to enter into the fine detail of some measures, partly because of the surprise of the victory, several reforms will undoubtedly happen, said Jaime Diez Lissavetzky, spokesman for the Socialists' Parliamentary Science Commission.First, the new government will create a new Science and Education Ministry, merging the previously separate Science and Technology, and Education and Culture ministries. An aim is to improve the mobility of researchers between universities and research centers under the Higher Research Council, Lissavetzky told The Scientist.The move will also allow for the creation of “mixed” centers made up of both institutions, Lissavetzky said. Universities will be administratively incorporated in the new ministry, he stressed.Second, the new government will increase the research budget by 25% every year until 2008 in order to double investment in research and development (R&D). Importantly, he noted, all R&D expenditure for military purposes will be excluded from this budget. The outgoing administration had been heavily criticized for including military expenses, including things like building ships, within the research budget. In some years, up to 40% of the overall R&D budget was made up of military spending.Third, Lissavetzky said that the National Plan on Research and Development will be discussed in the Parliament. The previous government did not seek any parliamentary input to devise the first National Plan, which ran from 1998–2003. Fourth, Lissavetzky said that for the first time in Spain, postgraduate fellows in their third and fourth years, as well as postdocs, will be granted contracts that mean they are regarded as workers with all the benefits that this includes.In fact, the old administration approved last fall a “statute” for fellows that contemplated some demands like social security discounts and maternity leave. But this statute was regarded as highly unsatisfactory by the organization of Precarious Young Researchers. Lissavetzky said that in addition, all efforts will be made to try to ensure that postdocs granted 5-year Ramón y Cajal awards are eventually contracted on a permanent basis.The new government will also create a new body, called the Research Funding Agency, to provide funds based on peer review and transparency and to be run by scientists and some governmental officials, Lissavetzky said. He added that the new Spanish agency would be linked to any future European Research Council.Finally, the new government will totally revise the new law on assisted reproduction to make it more flexible and less restrictive. For example, he says, therapeutic cloning will be an “open matter.” The issue has seen regional and national governments clash in the past year.Biochemist Joan Guinovart, who recently promoted a State Pact for Science and who on March 15 was chosen first president of the Confederation of Spanish Scientific Societies, a new 20,000-member body, told The Scientist the victory of the Socialists opens a new era of hope for scientists. Jordi Petriz, a stem cell researcher at the Barcelona-based IDIBAPS research institute, also welcomed the planned reforms, but expressed some concerns. For instance, he noted, that the creation of a single Education and Science Ministry might lead to more bureaucracy. Antonio Ferriz, a member of the Spanish Association for the Advancement of Science, an independent organization concerned about nepotism at Spanish universities, told The Scientist that the only bad news from the new government is that the lobby of university rectors who permit inbreeding to perpetuate is mostly represented by socialist supporters.

Big changes afoot in Spain

The country's new ruling party plans some major science policy and admin reforms

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of