Bratislava Castle, Slovakia
In a report published last Thursday, the Spanish government released a sudden modification of the established rules pertaining to the financing of research projects sentencing the research community to more hardships.
Public funds are the main financing source that Spanish science relies on. These programs, which fund research projects as well as individual investigators (mostly young talented scientists starting their labs and returning from postdocs overseas) are granted every year and typically provide funds for projects spanning 3-to-5 years. In the present financial climate, the Spanish government has been continuously and drastically cutting funds for these programs.
In 2009 the Spanish government spent 547 million euros to support science. In the latest resolution of these programs, published last December, these funds were reduced to 309 million (a more than 40% reduction). Rubbing salt into the wound, these funds will also be significantly delayed according to the recent communication, which states that researchers will receive the funds in four years instead of the three that the original call had stipulated back in December 2011.
Making things even worse, the government has announced that during the first year, less than 10% of the funds will be made available to scientists. This is in direct contrast to previous resolutions, in which funds were administered following a 40% in year one, 40% in year two and 20% in year three formula that was deemed appropriate as projects typically require big investments in equipment and reagents during the first years.
In the past, it has been possible for universities or the CSIC (the Spanish National Research Council) to advance some of the funds to awardees, but now these institutions have no money to put forward.
This delay and changed formula for administration of funds will have a devastating effect on the vast majority of active Spanish scientists. In addition, the manner in which this new ‘rule’ has been communicated, late and by surprise, has angered a community of researchers that has already been particularly hit by the economic woes that the country is suffering.
During the 30 years before the 2008 crisis, Spanish research and development productivity had been steadily increasing and gaining visibility in the international community. Young investigators who had gone abroad to do science were returning to Spain aided by new grants and programs. Innovative, cutting-edge Spanish science was no longer a dream but a reality.
Since 2009, the Spanish government has been cutting science budgets relatively more than other areas (average ministries are experiencing cuts of 16%). It is clear that these cuts threaten to undermine the ability of scientific institutes across the country to hire and retain talented personnel. While Spain continues to reduce its support for research, other European countries and the European Union are proposing to increase their investment in science.
The Spanish science secretary Carmen Vela has proposed that Spanish scientists focus ‘on innovation and quality over quantity’ and that private funding of science should increase. But if policymakers continue to take measures that result in more labs closing down and the fleeing of scientists, there will be no talented people left in Spain to drive the innovation that will guarantee a sustainable economy in the future.
Links to other news coverage and political reactions to this resolution
https://sociedad.elpais.com/sociedad/2013/01/24/actualidad/1359061061_171675.html
https://www.abc.es/espana/20130126/abci-gobierno-reduce-ayudas-ciencia-201301261848.html
The frequently caustic battle over European biofuels policy has kicked off again this week as the European Union is set to reverse gear and end years of support for the controversial energy source.
Environmental groups, development non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the biofuels sector were surprised in September when a leak of a long-delayed European Commission legislative proposal suggested that Brussels now wants to halve targets and shift support to more advanced fuels that it says do not displace food farming.
“Biofuels that do not lead to substantial greenhouse gas savings (when emissions from indirect land-use change are included) and are produced from crops used for food and feed should not be subsidised [after 2020],” reads a mid-October draft of the proposal seen by Nature.
In 2003, Europe embraced its first biofuels subsidies, and three years ago the EU adopted targets aiming for 10% of all transport fuels to come from renewable sources by 2020, in effect a target for crop-based biofuels. The target may now be reduced to 7–8%.
The two departments in the commission responsible for drafting the policy adjustment now want to cap the amount coming from food crops at 5% and shift the emphasis from land-derived feedstocks entirely to ‘second-generation’ biofuels coming from municipal waste, algae and agricultural residues (such as stalks, nut shells, husks and cobs).
With biofuels already accounting for 4.5% of transport fuels in Europe, the move would allow very little room for growth, although sources familiar with internal commission discussions report that the departments ultimately shied away from any strict ‘carbon accounting’ for fuels, and went for a simpler cap instead.
They did not believe this to be politically feasible, as it could in principle reduce the use of biofuels much further unless they could be shown to produce emissions savings over fossil fuels. Continue reading