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A bad year for Spanish science

The budgets of Science and Innovation suffer a new cut in their budgets of 2010

All the political declarations about changing the productive model towards a new system based on knowledge, all the expert guidelines and all the examples tightly associating developed countries with a strong investment in R&D haven't been enough to avoid the cut of the Spanish science budget this year.

Alicia Rivera | 9 February 2010


Photo: Javier  Peláez
The amount of money that came out from the Parliament assigned to the Ministry of Science and Innovation supposed an 8.7% less than in 2009, but the last savings approved by the government at the end of January for all the departments, subtracted a pinch of Cristina Garmendia's (31.5 million), locating the budget cut to 10%. The four years of continuous expansion of the science financing in Spain, from Rodriguez Zapatero's government with the aim of achieving 2% of GDP, have been abrupt and severely truncated.
 
The political battle for the R&D financing extended for four long moths at the end of last year and now, haven given up 2010 already, the horizon lies in 2011, counting that the crisis passes and a rebound of the budgets of science occurs. But everybody knows how the administration works, and an increase over the scarce money of 2010 could seem remarkable although in reality it could be far from a real recovery.
 
What is clear to all responsible of scientific institutions is that this year will not only be bad, but that it will leave the system exhausted, to the point that next year, they affirm, the damage will have to be repaired which today already seems inevitable and long term. The public research organisms (OPI) and the National Plan itself count on exhausting their resources this year and even mortgaging themselves in the future. 

The scientists of countries like the United States, Germany or France feel a bit more confident, where this difficult 2010 won't be seeing their finances cut or even grow. Also their governors have already announced real increases in 2011.

Protest campaign

In Spain, the budget shock came at the beginning of last September, when it was known that the budget draft the Ministry of Economy and Finance was preparing for 2010 counted on a reduction of 37% for the chapter of Science and Innovation grants. This time the scientific community and its organizations, the unions and many researchers (young and veterans) didn't shut up and an intense protest campaign against what was coming, started. Garmendia's team tried to stop it without success.

The alarm caused its effect and when the budget draft was made public, the reduction was of 15% in Science and Innovation (almost 18% in the grant's chapter), on noninterest expenses.

United States, Germany or France won't be seeing their finances cut in this difficult 2010 Despite the continuous speech of Rodriguez Zapatero and his team on R&D priority, Science and Innovation is the Ministry that suffered the biggest reduction of all. Versus 2,439.09 million Euros in 2009, it went to 2,072.76 million in 2010 (always noninterest expenses). For 2010 the extra contribution of 490 million from the E Plan is expected to be much lower. 

Finally, the parliamentary amendments added around 150 million Euros to Garmendia's department. But it is not necessary to look at those budgets with a magnifying glass to see that almost 100 million go to the nominative calls, which means they are funds that go assigned with name and surname. In this case, they correspond to the political payment that the PSOE had to make to the PNV (and in less extent to the Coalición Canaria) to get along with its budget and, ultimately, as some said, "avoid anticipated elections".

The vast majority of these 100 million Euros go to Basque foundations and industries in items hat in many cases haven't really got much to do with research and without passing through the obliged evaluations in the competitive funds. The other 50 million are shared amongst the National Plan (27 million) and the General Secretariat of Innovation (23 million).

Financial engineering

The National Plan is going ahead this year with quite some financial engineering. The solution designed by their managers to pass through the budget cut consists in taking advantage of the fact that in 2009 more money than usual (thanks to 100 million from the E Plan) could be given to the projects in the first annuity, to give less than normal in the second (in 2010) and count on the financial recovery in 2011.  Therefore, there are 710 million for the Plan in 2010, compared to the 789 in 2009. With much balancing, the contracts and scholarships are trying to be maintained. 

The big losers of the Science and Innovation 2010 budget are the seven OPIs. The transfers they receive from the ministry have been reduced by 22% regarding last year and counting on the own resources they contribute to their budgets, the average is of 14%, just as it is reflected in the data of the Ministry, however much the minister and Rodriguez Zapatero have aired those own funds of the OPI to deny the obvious, the economic straits they are facing. The Governors Board of Scientific Research (CSIC) sees its budget reduced by 14%, but the Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (Ciemat) is around -25% and the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME), -29%.

Garmendia's Ministry has done a useless campaign in these months affirming that her budgets truly increase in 2010, useless because one just has to look at the numbers to appreciate the situation. It is true that the bulky credit lines (over 60% of the total) of the ministerial coffers have increased a bit, but that is going back to the old resources of credits, from chapter eight, directed to the companies and that are useless for scientists doing research. Also, that chapter 8 as an apology also reminds of the useless campaign of the PP when it was governing and pretended to mask the scarcity of science financing with the credit line (in those days, to finance the manufacturing of military equipment) and which was so much reported by the PSOE in its time.
THE STORY OF THE WOLF? As the data doesn't allow disguise the serious situation, the Ministry of Science and Innovation uses an exercise like the one of the story of the wolf, saying that part of the State Fund of Local Investment should collect R&D programs, which being very optimistic, is still to be seen. Still, not much of these funds will finance science and technology in competitive programs, which is what really counts. This year the local fund won't solve anything for the National Fund and not for the OPI's either. Regarding the funds for Sustainable Economy (about 20,000 million), most part are credits, so it remains the same.

Garmendia has it really difficult to convince somebody that the science budgets are increasing. Even the great humorist Forges has dedicated a few of his strips in the newspaper El País to the issue with a memorable I+D+bp, es decir, I+D+bajo puente” (in English, R+D+ub, which means, R+D+under the bridge) and a sad “Consejo Superior de Investigaciones TREStíficas”.

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