Spain Turns to Science for Stimulus

Artículo aparecido en la revista News Sciencie

Spain's economy is in trouble. The country's real-estate bubble has collapsed and its unemployment rate is 20%. Can science provide a way out?. That's the hope of the country's ministers, who today approved the text of a new research law that aims to reward scientific talent and encourage entrepreneurship, according to local Spanish-language reports.The law still needs to be approved by Spain's parliament.

But Science and Innovation Minister Cristina Garmendia told reporters that scientific reforms could provide "a new model" for Spain's troubled economy based on innovation. Among other steps, the law would create a new Spanish Research Agency to oversee spending and encourage the private sector to take on a larger share of R&D, something Garmendia says has been lacking in recent decades.Currently, Spain's research establishment produces large amounts of middling quality science. The country ranks nineth in the world in number of papers published, but only 20th in impact, according to a Spanish report. "We demand a law that will let us get to the level of the Nobel Prize," said Joan Guinovart, president of the Confederation of Spanish Scientific Societies (COSCE), which represents about 30,000 researchers.The confederation released a statement in Spanish criticizing the law as largely ineffective.

Mr. Guinovart told El Mundo that the law "doesn't provide solutions to the real problems" of Spanish science, which researchers say favors seniority over talent, in part by doling out automatic promotions. According to one joke making the rounds: "A messenger arrives in your office and 20 years later he becomes a professor.". Spain's government says the new Science, Technology and Innovation law would address problems facing researchers, for instance by making it easier to move between universities or leave to start companies.Garmendia said in a press conference today that the law will also do away with the public-sector grants for graduate students, and replace them with contractual arrangements that include unemployment benefits. "Where before there were grants, now we'll have contracts," the minister said.Spain is also fretting over losing scientific talent, such as noted Spanish oncologist Josep Baselga, who this week confirmed that he would become chief of the hematology and oncology division and associate director of the Massachusetts General Hospital cancer center in Boston.

To stem brain drain, the new law calls for special "distinguished investigator contracts" for recruiting foreign researchers. Garmendia said that the "balance of attraction and retention of talent must be positive," Spanish news agency ADN reported.Garmendia, a biologist and leading figure in Spain's biotechnology industry, was appointed head of Spain's newly created Science and Innovation ministry in 2008. She quickly drew criticism for overseeing a sharp cut in Spain's science budget. Spain's science spending totals about 1.35% of GDP and lags behind European neighbors, according to Guinovart's organization. Spain's science ambitions suffered another blow this month when the European Southern Observatoryrecommended construction of a new giant telescope in Chile. Spain had bid for a location on the island of La Palma.