Catalan research, blocked

As part of the takeover of Catalonia’s public finances by the State Government, aimed at preventing the October 1 referendum, the accounts of Catalan public universities and research centres have also been blocked. More than 60 bodies have been affected by this decision. This extraordinary, unprecedented and excessive fact puts at risk the development of research projects, many of them international; and affects the prestige of institutions that have earned, through patience, transparency and excellence, a place of merit in world science. It compromises the normal functioning of research groups (something that can affect international scientific partners in joint projects with other institutions from other countries), and it undermines the capacity to attract and retain talent at bodies that have shown their ability to compete on a global level despite the endemic shortage of resources.

"More than 60 research bodies have been affected by the decision to block Catalan public accounts"

The Catalan research model is unique. The deployment of some 40 research centres (CERCA, Centres de Recerca de Catalunya), with their own idiosyncrasies, has put Catalonia in a privileged position in world science. The CERCA centres are independent bodies, which act with great autonomy and flexibility under scientific leadership made up of international researchers who are recognised as the best in their fields and who were recruited through international public competitions. For almost two decades, the CERCA have been developing a stable policy to attract the best international talent to Catalonia, and to develop frontline science. The centres are overseen by international scientific committees, and evaluated according to the best practices and global standards. Their efficiency and quality has turned them into key nodes in the world’s scientific circuit, and their scientific output is an asset and undoubted calling card for Catalonia.

We have know for years that Catalonia generates around 1% of world knowledge (measured by the quantity and quality of scientific articles published in journals with an international impact), while it only accounts for 0.1 % of the world’s population. That means that Catalonia’s intensity of knowledge is 10 times greater than what it should be. The progress made in science has reached extremes that not long ago would have been considered impossible: between 2007 and 2013, the Catalan research system was awarded 136 grants from the European Research Council, all programmes of the highest scientific standard. Some 51% of the competitive concessions that come to Spain are obtained by Catalonia; and despite only accounting for 1.2% of the population in the European Research Area, Catalonia obtains 3% of grants, accounting for more than 400 million euros in research. In terms of attracting per capita funding, in Europe, only Israel, Holland and Switzerland are higher. The key to this success is without doubt the structure of the CERCA centres, and the ICREA programme for attracting research talent, two key tools in the Catalan scientific system, thought up in his day by professor Mas-Collell when he was universities minister; and accepted as valid and maintained by his successors of all political stripes for two decades.

"Catalonia has an intensity of knowledge 10 times greater than what it should be for its size"

Catalonia has centres of research excellence in areas such as biotechnology (with all the contribution to progress in world health that it signifies, in fields like cancer, Alzheimer’s or Aids), physics, computing, materials, chemicals or nanotechnology. Nevertheless, the Catalan scientific system is still a fragile adolescent that needs stability. The crisis heavily affected the universities, which suffer from insufficient funding and are unable to restock their teaching staff levels. Yet, the seed of the culture of excellence has been planted, and there is a consensus that the future of countries will depend on their capacity to do research and quickly transfer its results to the socio-economic fabric. What is urgently needed is to maintain financial stability in research centres and groups, and firmly demand that, as centres of reference in scientific knowledge, guided by the principles of critical thought and universality, that they remain outside the ambit of political action that might harm them.