Madrid doesn’t discover researchers beneath 40 years outdated to reward with 21,000 euros | Madrid | Spain | EUROtoday

Madrid doesn’t discover researchers beneath 40 years of age specialised in Biosciences who may be rewarded for his or her work with 21,000 euros. It occurred on the finish of 2023. The Margarita Salas award, which had 5 candidates, was void. And since there was no official clarification, an outraged citizen demanded a justification within the Assembly. “It is necessary to know the reasons that have led to such a drastic decision to confirm, if applicable, whether the scientific level of researchers under 40 years of age in Madrid is so dismal and mediocre as to declare the award void,” he states in an announcement. writing addressed to Parliament, and obtained by the opposition as affirmation of an issue. Because sure, Madrid already dedicates 2% of its GDP to R&D analysis ―which makes it the area that invests probably the most after the Basque Country―… however it seems that almost all of that effort has non-public origins. In reality, in 2018, Madrid solely spent 0.63% of its budgets on R&D&I (fifth area from backside), as said within the Spanish Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy, printed by the central authorities. . And little has improved since then, in line with the Madrid left.

“There was no candidate that was of sufficient level,” explains Ángel Carracedo, professor of authorized drugs on the University of Santiago de Compostela, and president of the court docket that made the choice to not award the award. “In awards like this, a lot depends on the dissemination they give, perhaps not many people found out about it, it may have to do with this,” he argues, implicitly declaring the accountability of the Community. “In Madrid there are great researchers, many of whom would be worthy of the award, but who would have to apply. Let’s hope that for the next [edición]…”.

Madrid will attain 5,130 million euros of spending on inner R&D in 2022, 26.5% of the nationwide whole and 1.96% of the regional GDP, in line with knowledge supplied this Thursday by Díaz Ayuso’s group after an intervention by the president on the discussion board Spain Investors Day. With 64,470 individuals devoted to R&D actions, together with 40,576 researchers, the area, celebrated by the regional Executive, can be a pacesetter in devoted personnel and scientific manufacturing. In addition, the Community has six Science and Technology parks, and the seven analysis facilities of the IMDEA institutes to hold out and promote wonderful R&D&i actions within the area.

And but, the Margarita Salas has been left abandoned, to the indignation of the opposition.

“It is inconceivable and bad news,” says Héctor Tejero, a member of Más Madrid within the regional Parliament, who affirms that the Community is the area that invests the least quantity of its personal cash per inhabitant in R&D (about 22 euros in comparison with 55 euros on the nationwide common). ). “In the Community of Madrid there are many brilliant and excellent young researchers, despite the fact that Mrs. Ayuso’s Government is the one that invests the least amount of its own money per inhabitant in R&D,” he complains, for the reason that Executive is dedicated to public collaboration -private and by the formulation {that a} third of the funding comes from its funds and the remainder from these of the businesses. “If the proposed researchers do not meet the requirements, it can only be because the Department of Education, Science and Universities has not done enough to publicize and make it known,” the deputy complains. “One more example of the counselor’s incompetence.” [Emilio Viciana] and the little affection that the Government of the Community has for science and analysis.”

Regional funding in R&D in Madrid barely represents 0.58% of the 2024 budgets, Tejero denounces. The regional authorities, consulted by this newspaper, didn’t specify this info earlier than the publication of this text, arguing that the full determine is distributed in a number of objects, so detailing it required extra time. But the grievance of the Más Madrid consultant can be shared by Juan Lobato’s PSOE.

“It is a way of implicitly recognizing that, according to this jury, and according to the ministry, there is not a sufficient level of research and science in Madrid in people under 40 years of age,” laments Esteban Álvarez, socialist deputy within the Assembly of Madrid. “It seems a little strong to me,” he emphasizes. “This is an award that should have a lot of relevance in Madrid, and the fact that it remains deserted is one more symptom of the importance that the CAM gives to R&D&I, to science,” he provides. And he denounces: “The budget for research has been reduced by 7% in 2024. The Government of Spain invests more than twice as much in R&D&i in Madrid than the Ayuso Government.”

The awards had been designed in 2021 by the Díaz Ayuso Executive to “distinguish the excellence and quality of scientific and research work developed by researchers under forty years of age.” They are a part of a dedication made by the chief: “We are going to maintain and increase the commitment to knowledge and research on which the future of the region depends,” Díaz Ayuso herself promised. In addition to assembly the age standards, candidates should be medical doctors and work for universities or analysis facilities in Madrid. Although they can not current themselves, the citizen who has requested for explanations within the Assembly describes an endogamous system: “In all the proposals, in addition to their localist character and isolation from the international scientific community, a co-opted or endogamous extraction is glimpsed, in the that co-workers propose to each other as a tribal group.”

This is how they clarify what occurred within the Ministry of Education: “The jury of the research awards considered that the candidatures, voluntary and presented by third parties, did not meet the quality requirements required for the granting of these prestigious awards, so they decided to leave them empty. unanimously. This same year, the Miguel Catalán award in the under 40 category has been awarded ex aequo to the researchers Alejandro Manjavacas and Marina García for the quality and excellence of the work developed by both.”

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