Barcelona

The Spanish government last week committed itself to creating 2,000 new posts in the public research sector over the next four years, and to raise the overall number of researchers in the workforce from 3.3 to 4 per 1,000 employees.

Two types of job will be created: newly qualified PhDs will be offered research contracts of up to five years in publicly funded research centres, in priority areas identified under the national plan, and a number of more senior researchers with at least ten years research experience will be given five-year contacts that will be renewable for a further five years.

The commitment is part of a four-year National Plan on Research, Development and Technological Innovation that will come into effect on 1 January. Mariano Rajoy, the minister of education and culture, said the plan was one of the Conservative government's “most important issues”.

Central to the strategy is coordination and integration between ministries responsible for research and development (R&D), and improved evaluation of government-funded research projects.

The Interministerial Commission of Science and Technology, which is responsible for coordination, will be strengthened, as will the public bodies responsible for assessing research projects, including the National Agency of Evaluation and Prospective and the Centre for Technological and Industrial Development.

Under the plan, public spending on R&D is expected to grow by at least 6 to 8 per cent a year until it reaches 1.3 per cent of the gross national product by the end of 2003 (see Nature 400, 393; 1999).

Next year's government research budget will be Pts508 billion (US$ 3.1 billion), an increase of Pts48 billion over this year. Including private sector and regional expenditure and funds received from the European Commission, research spending will total Pts1,500 billion.

The plan includes measures designed to support applied research and technological innovation in Spanish companies. Josep Piqué, the minister of industry and energy, says that the government wants the proportion of companies engaged in high-technology projects to grow from 12 to 20 per cent by the end of 2003.

As part of this trend, the government will provide financial support for 500 young postdocs to be recruited by Spanish companies, as well as 1,000 scientists in technology centres and small- and medium-sized companies.

There will be tax incentives for companies involved in R&D, including a 30 per cent increase in general tax deductions and a further 10 per cent deduction for expenses related to research personnel.

Piqué points out that Spain's position on technological innovation is “not good” compared with other developed countries, and that a “great effort” will be needed, mainly from the private sector, to reach a similar level to its competitors.

He says that Spain must move beyond a ‘subsidy culture’, and that even though the country is ranked eleventh in the world in terms of its research output, its technological exports are “very small” compared with its imports.

At a recent meeting in Valencia with 2,000 industrial managers, Spain's prime minister, José Maria Aznar, said his government wanted investment by the private sector in R&D to grow by more than 10 per cent a year, to reach 65 per cent of the country's total R&D budget by the end of 2003.

Many scientists have welcomed the new posts and the budget increase. But they warn that the plan will not solve the bias towards local candidates in selection procedures.