Spanish Government to invest €18.4 Bn in science, "the largest investment in history"
"The State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research 2024-2027 increases funding by 32% compared to the previous plan", says the Government of Spain on 07/05/2024.
"The Council of Ministers has approved the State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research (PEICTI) for the period 2024-2027, which plans to allocate €18.4 Bn to promote science and knowledge through calls for grants to fund projects in both the public and private sectors."
The PEICTI budget includes actions focused around a national objective: "To enhance Spain's capacity to attract and retain talent, increase the quality of R&D&I, consolidate knowledge transfer and increase the innovative activity of all public and private actors in the system."
This decision comes after the Covid crisis highlighted that the great social challenges must be tackled "hand in hand with science and knowledge", declares Diana Morant, Spanish Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities.
She also qualifies this investment as "proof that this government is the one that has invested the most in science in the history of Spain".
Sciences as a driver of employment
"We have gone from being a country that expelled its talent with the brain drain to a country in which these jobs are growing at a rate five times faster than the average for the rest of the productive sectors," says the Minister of Science.
According to her, this evolution explains to a large extent the increase in productivity in the Spanish economy. "The commitment to knowledge is making it possible for one out of every five new jobs created in Spain to be related to science, innovation and information technologies."
Sciences as a driver of the economy
The annual investment in the new plan is around €4.5 Bn, some €1 Bn more than in the previous plan for the period 2021-2023.
Diana Morant says that these plans help to increase the investment made by the rest of the public administrations and the private sector:
"Thanks to the Executive's initiative, Spain's overall spending on research, development and innovation (R&D&I) grew by 22% in the 2021-2022 two-year period."
Spain is reportedly "on track to fulfil" its commitment to reach 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030, according to the Minister, as set out in the Science, Technology and Innovation Act.
A plan to "do better science"
For Spanish research, development and innovation to "do better science", as said by the Minister, the government wants to "improve human resources and research, collaboration between academia and business, strengthen infrastructure and equipment, promote the internationalisation of Spanish science and institutional cooperation".
The government has also implemented three aids:
- "the annual call for applications for grants for R&D Research & development projects 'Science and Innovation Missions', for an amount of €70 M, to be complemented by €40 M from the State Research Agency. The funds will prioritise challenges such as developing a Spanish fusion industry, improving the circular economy in the field of renewable energies or developing personalised treatments and medicines;
- an aid worth just over €19 M to research and development projects selected in international calls for proposals;
- a fund of €18 M to the Instituto de España and the Royal Academies and National Academies."
€11.9 M from the State Research Agency to help European projects and the attraction of international talent
"The State Research Agency allocates €11.9 M for the call, corresponding to the year 2024, of aid for the preparation and management of European projects and to facilitate the attraction of international talent in R&D institutions", says the agency on 09/05/2024.
The organisation Innovation and Universities, which is under the Ministry of Science, has launched the 2024 call for aid for the preparation and management of European projects and to facilitate the attraction of international talent in R&D institutions, with a budget of a maximum of €8.9 M for the preparation and management of European projects and €3 M to facilitate the attraction of international talent.
The agency wants to "increase the participation of all agents of the Spanish system in international projects and programs, promote the leadership of Spanish entities in Horizon Europe projects and the recruitment of international talent in R&D institutions".