As Spanish researchers staged a mock funeral in Madrid, the government released its 2014 budget. But there was little good news for Spanish science
Last Friday it was the European Commission-backed Researchers' Night, and in Spain it was a pitch-black night. This event, intended to bring together science and society, was celebrated by Spanish researchers with a mock funeral in Madrid, near to the Congress. In the 2014 national budget released that day, the Spanish government had completely ignored the demands of Spain's scientific community, condemning the Spanish R&D system to a not-so-slow death.
During the last two weeks, representatives from the Spanish scientific community have met with all political parties in the Spanish Congress, including the leader of the opposition, with a proposition: a parliamentary agreement to guarantee the viability of the Spanish R&D system.
This request, signed by the Confederation of Spanish Scientific Societies, the Conference of University Chancellors, a wide range of Conferences of University Deans, most of the directors of the Spanish National Research Council centres, several grassroots scientific organisations and the two major trade unions, among others, contains four basic requests: (1) That public spending on R&D is restored to 2009 levels by 2016, to converge with the EU-27 average of 0.6% of GDP; this would require an annual increase of 636 million Euros for three years. (2) The elimination of the current restrictions on hiring in the public research system, which is resulting in the permanent loss of 90% of the tenured posts left vacant due to retirements. (3) The release of enough resources in 2013-2016 for the national research grants programme, and a guarantee that future calls for proposals will follow clear and sensible timelines. And (4), the creation of the national research agency as an autonomous and politically independent institution with a multi-annual budget.
While the goal of the last two points is to guarantee that we do not see a repeat of the chaos that the system has suffered in 2012 and 2013, the first two requests are focused on the longer-term revival of the system.
The 2014 budget for civil R&D spending (€2,250m) sees a modest increase of €128m over what was first announced in 2013. This is not only much smaller than the €636m increase requested by the community but - given that in late 2013 the government was forced to supply an extra €104m to avoid the collapse of the R&D system - does not represent any significant increase. Indeed, the largest fraction of the 2014 increase (€59.2m of the €128.3m extra) is accounted for by an increase in Spain's contribution to Cern (€35.6m of which actually cover overdue payments).
Only 1.7 of that €128.3 extra will go to increase the budget of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), which, with an estimated deficit (according to its president) of some €75m, will spend another year on the verge of bankruptcy.
The restriction on hiring researchers has been maintained for the third consecutive year. This freeze, together with the budget cuts and year-long delays in the grants and human resources programmes, are forcing talent to leave the system. Without much needed generational renewal in research institutes and universities, the Spanish system will continue to be less competitive in winning funding from EU research programmes and companies will continue to struggle to find researchers with whom to take advantage of European financial resources (like the Risk Sharing Finance Facility) that promote research and innovation activities in the private sector.
Only €10.3m out of the extra €128.3m for 2014 is allocated to the crucial budget line (the Fondo Nacional para Investigación Científica y Técnica) covering all grant funding and human resources programmes in the Spanish public research system. It was precisely this budget line which needed an emergency bail-out in 2013 to avoid triggering the collapse of the entire system. This budget will see a deficit in 2014 of €69m with respect to 2013. And needless to say, the new state budget allocates no resources whatsoever to the creation of the national research agency.
R&D should be one of the basic foundations of the Spanish economic recovery, supporting a much needed transition to a less volatile economic model based on production and generation of knowledge. It is well known that investment in R&D is correlated with GDP growth, and it may be no accident that the European countries that have had to be rescued or intervened (Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) are those that have invested less in R&D.
By not reforming and revitalising R&D spending, the government is contradicting its own claims that the Spanish economy has started down the path of recovery. The 2014 budget document boasts that one of the priorities of recent budgets has been research, development and innovation policies, allowing public investment in R&D to approach the EU average. It is very difficult to argue with a government that lives in a parallel universe: public spending in R&D has suffered a 33.1% decrease under the present administration (2012-2013 period) and Spain has fallen below EU standards in terms of R&D investment (both overall and public) and in terms of number of researchers per citizen.
In the numerous meetings held in Congress in the last two weeks, we found that all political parties in the opposition (progressive and conservative, nationalist and non-nationalist) support the scientific community's four requests, and agreed to support an act to articulate this commitment, with clear goals. This is a milestone because a three-year commitment would include the first year of the next government, whoever is in power. So Spain may yet move towards a more stable and transparent research system - but time is of the essence and to really secure the future of Spanish science, the governing party also urgently needs to come on board.
Amaya Moro-Martín is a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Spanish National Research Council and spokesperson of the grassroots movement Investigación Digna. She is about to return to the US to work at Nasa
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