The latest draft of the regulation, to which EL PERIÓDICO has had access, reinforces the commitment against harassment in the centers, outlines some improvements in labor matters and promotes open science
Spanish public research centers must deploy Specific plans against harassment of women and LGBTI+ people, according to the latest draft of the ‘Science Law’ to which EL PERIÓDICO has had access. The preliminary bill, which the Government expects to approve after the Council of Ministers next Tuesday, also emphasizes the need to “integrate gender expert staff in the evaluation bodies”, “incorporate the gender perspective as a cross-cutting category in defining research priorities” and in measures to “encourage and recognize the presence of womenin the field of science and innovation.
These are some of the measures included in the new ‘Law of science‘, promoted by the ministry now led by socialist Diana Morant, to forge a “open, inclusive and responsible research” in Spain. After more than a year of intense debate, the new regulatory framework proposes a battery of tools to correct some of the deficits of the previous legislation, approved in 2011 during the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and opens the door to a possible turning point for the scientific community Spain and the country’s research centers.
As this newspaper has been able to verify, the latest draft of the ‘Science Act’ incorporates some (but not all) of the claims raised by trade unions, scientific societies and research platforms during the public consultation and in the debate of recent weeks. The text, updated three weeks after the previous draft and finalized just a few days before reaching the Council of Ministers, reinforces the commitment against harassment in research centersoutline some improvements in laborclarifies the wording of several articles and corrects some of the ‘gaps’ in the previous draft.
As an example, the final document that Morant will take before the Council of Ministers (and that will later go through Parliament’s scrutiny to achieve its final approval) does recognize the Meteorology Statal Agency (AEMET) among the country’s public research centers (a ‘nuance’ that did not appear in the previous draft and that had sparked outrage in various spheres of the scientific community).
These are the Main changes proposed by the new ‘Law of Science, Technology and Innovation’ and the novelties reflected in the latest draft of this bill.
Hiring models
The great promise of this new ‘Science Law’ is to create a new regulatory framework for improve the working conditions of researchers Spanish people. To this end, one of the measures proposed in this draft is the creation of new hiring modalities. The first, and surely one of the most anticipated by a scientific community accustomed to chaining short and precarious contracts for years, will be the scientific-technical contractsof an indefinite nature and that will not form part of the Public Employment Offer.
There is also the creation of a new postdoctoral itineraryinspired by the Anglo-Saxon model of ‘tenure track’, by a minimum of three and a maximum of six years to which both professionals trained here and abroad will be able to access. Simultaneously, an evaluation and accreditation system will be established that guarantees that the people who complete the itinerary can opt for stable incorporation to the public science system”, collects the text. The incorporation of these professionals will depend on the replacement rates of the centers, although the regulations propose Reserve for these profiles a minimum of 25% of the places of the Public Research Organizations and 15% of the places in the universities.
The new legal framework also contemplates the figure of the ‘distinguished researcher’, for both Spanish and foreign scientists, “who enjoy a consolidated international reputation bbased on the excellence of its contributions in the scientific and/or technical field”. This type of contract could allow it to become an incentive for attract international talentstop the brain drain or, as the text mentions, “if possible, promote their return”.
The final document that this Tuesday will be brought before the Council of Ministers incorporates one of the labor petitions that unions and scientific societies had put on the table: the right to compensation after the end of the contract (equivalent to 12 days per year worked) will apply to both new hires and scientists contracted before the entry into force of this law. Until now, since a large part of the scientific contracts were of a temporary nature, the researchers had no right to compensation.
Incentive to ‘open science’
The latest version of the text incorporates a series of mentions on “fostering open science at the service of society”. In the first place, the document points out that “research personnel must receive incentives to publish the results of your research in the open” (i.e. in an accessible format and without a ‘paywall’).
Second, a strategic line is also added for “encourage and recognize scientific outreach work of the researchers and scientific culture units of universities and research centers (something that also responds to one of the great complaints of the scientific community, that Until now, he complained that outreach work was not taken into account as part of his scientific work).
The document also acknowledges “the value of science as a common good” and, on this principle, proposes to develop “initiatives aimed at facilitating free access to data generated by research” as well as promote citizen science programs to include various spheres of society in the process of scientific research.
Takeoff of the Spanish Space Agency
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The creation of the Spanish Space Agency, one of the great projects launched by former minister and astronaut Pedro Duque, also stands out among the great novelties of this law. Although the roadmap for this entity had already been announced, the latest draft of the text adds a more detailed breakdown of its functions. Mention is made, among others, of the “promotion, execution and development” of projects related to the field “space, security and national defense“. Especially as regards the use (and development) of satellites and the management of the data obtained from this activity.
These tasks, according to the document, will be carried out in full coordination with the European Space Agency (ESA) and other international organizations. In terms of budget, it is detailed that the creation of this entity “will be carried out without an increase in public spending” and that the proposed projects will be financed in the same way as other research projects (that is, “competitive and efficient allocation of public resources”). Regarding the launch of this project, the text specifies that the Government will approve in the maximum term of one year the statute of the Spanish Space Agency hand in hand with all the ministries involved in its work.