Source: Nature News
According to many studies, scientists are feeling helpless. Unfortunately, Spain’s research community is facing a difficult period. When it comes to the available budget, it seems things are looking negative. Many sources reveal science minister Cristina Garmendia may resign pretty soon. Known scientists are definitely worried and despite Cristina’s commitment, they want to find the right solution. Many cuts are taking over, which may cause severe problems and damages to the Spanish R&D system. Scientists want to find the way to rise above. Many experts are trying to reach the best solution. Nobody can really tell if Jose Luis Zapatero will be helping or not. It seems like when it’s about Spanish Science, everything is hypothetical. Rumor has it, the education ministry will absorb science matters.
Regarding Garmendia’s priorities, many reviews reveal ‘a new science law’ is out and about. She’s been working on it since 2008. She used to be a molecular biologist and now she is a governmental figure. Many initiatives are to be developed to start making profit and in order to bring many beneficial results. A transformation is taking place, it is important to focus on how everything has evolved, since the first science law was established. The amount of money invested has increased since then. They were all aiming to invest on innovation and so on. However, many controversial subjects regarding Spanish Science have started to appear. Many people claim that Garmendia has no political experience at all. Even the so called “science law” is supposed to assist on research, the parliament is still analyzing the whole theme.
After debating, it wasn’t till 2009 that universities started to be governed by the education ministry. Unluckily, according to studies by COSCE (Confederation of Spanish Scientific Societies), cuts to science started to increase at a high speed. There are many testimonials of scientists that participated in the protest that took place in Madrid. Few months ago, Garmendia announced research was going to be left behind, claiming there was no money to invest. Sources reveal it has to do with the Spanish science spending lockdown. A lot of people are totally disappointed and disgusted by the measures that they’ve taken. It is known that Spanish science is definitely being affected by the latest resolutions. Actually, several institutions that are specialized in research, they’ve experienced serious problems and down falls. Unfortunately, the government contributions are every low. They definitely need tools and instruments to work. Lastly, knowledge is a key player and everyone should remain positive and calm. Always believing that in 2011, a change will arise for good.
This report was generated by COLT Business Landscaping with information from Nature Publishing Group. The opinions presented here are property of their original authors and do not necessarily depict the COLT Business Landscaping opinion.
