Image: La Moncloa - Gobierno de España [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0], via Flickr
Funding calls aim to attract talent from abroad and keep Spanish researchers in the sector
The Spanish government is planning to use €80 million to advance research careers in Spain and attract research talent to the country.
The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities said on 24 June that new calls for two national schemes were set to be approved by ministers “with the aim of attracting and consolidating scientific talent in our country”.
One of these, the Research Consolidation scheme, will get €50m to support the careers of 250 researchers from Spain and elsewhere at Spanish institutions, after earlier calls awarded €169m to support 842 researchers. Of those, 731 were Spanish and 111 were from 33 other countries.
The second scheme, called Atrae, will get €30m to attract 30 world-leading researchers to posts in Spain. A previous call in this scheme supported 15 Spaniards and 15 researchers of other nationalities. Each will get a three-to-four-year contract with a host institution and will use their grant to cover the costs of equipment and staff.
Science minister Diana Morant (pictured) said: “We are managing to return the talent that left us and attract foreign talent that sees our country as an attractive country to do science.”
Spain is becoming “a country that knows how to take care of scientists, that incorporates them into the science system and gives them stability”, she added.