The new president has expressed her will to “carry on working for the recognition of Spanish science as
one of the political and economic priorities of this country”. Blasco will be accompanied by SOMMa vice presidents
Mª José Sanz, director of the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), and Antonio Molina, director of the Centre
for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics (CBGP-UPM-INIA).
The Severo Ochoa and María de Maeztu Alliance, SOMMa, gathers over 50 top Spanish research institutions with
over 8,500 researchers, was launched officially from the CRG on October the 18th, 2017, with the support of then
Secretary of State of Research of the Ministry of Economy, Carmen Vela, as an initiative to visibilize the Spanish
science with the Severo Ochoa and María de Maeztu mentions of excellence of the Spanish State Plan for R+D+I.
The Severo Ochoa and María de Maeztu mentions are the highest institutional recognition to scientific research in
Spain. Their awardees, selected by an international evaluation committee, cover practically all areas of knowledge,
from physics and mathematics to environmental sciences and biomedicine, as well as humanities. A reflection of
the excellence of SOMMa centres and units is the fact that they are also those institutions that occupy the first
positions in international scientific rankings.
The law for public contracts of 2017, Ley 9/2017, raised the alarms of the Spanish research community. This
marked the start of an intensive task in scientific policy of SOMMa, which managed to make of the alliance an
actor to be taken into account in the Spanish scientific scene. The exchanges between the directive teams of alliance
members provided ample perspective and new connections with numerous scientific societies, associations of
researchers and of companies active in R+D+I. With them, the alliance has launched and participated of numerous
actions and positioned itself publicly in defence of science.
A number of legislative initiatives of the Spanish Government in the area of research have been taking place
recently: the “Real Decreto de medidas urgentes para la ciencia” (February 2019), the “Plan de choque para la
ciencia española” (July 2020), the increase of the spending limits in order to increase the science budget in Spain
(September 2020) and the recent approval of the Spanish General Budget, with a substantial increase in the
funding for research.
In February 2019 a package of urgent measures for science was approved unanimously in the Congress. The
measures removed the expenditure intervention by the Spanish Ministry of Finance and reverted the decrease of
the economic limit necessary for compulsory public tenders for the contracting of services. From the outgoing
presidency this is considered as one of the major achievements in response to the threat that posed the application
of the aforementioned law of public service contracts for Spanish research.
“We cannot say that the current situation of science in Spain is good, but we have seen improvements”, admits
Luis Serrano. “We need to persist in the demands for more juridical safety, administrative improvements and for
the refinement of the most unclear or inapplicable aspects of the current legislative framework. This will maximize
the impact of the available resources. It is unknown whether the investment in science will consolidate in the future
or if it will decrease once the extraordinary European funding is withdrawn. A wide consensus, in theory already
in existence, is required, but what is lacking is that science is truly seen -at the highest governance levels- as a
priority for the country.”
The relevant and inexcusable role of science in the resolution of new challenges
“After these difficult months of pandemic, we have seen how society became more aware than ever about the
relevant and inexcusable role of science in the resolution of the problems and challenges that may bring us new
diseases or the growth or aging of World population”, reflects Maria A. Blasco. “Perhaps this is the moment to
open a new debate about the strengths and weaknesses of science policy in our country, empowering, as well, the
various social actors in the area of science that develop a truly excellent job, with transcendental results for our
society”. The new president has highlighted, as well, “the necessity of promoting measures, both social and
political, aimed at powering economic and social impact of Spanish research, improving its legislative framework
and financial stability”.
The end of the term of Luis Serrano follows the recent campaign launched together by ASEICA, AseBio and
SOMMa in favour of R+D+I, with support of almost 50 entities. Other relevant milestones have been the firm
support of the Minister Pedro Duque towards the Severo Ochoa programme (January 2020), the first positioning
in science policy of the alliance, the “Informe SOMMa: Acciones necesarias para salvaguardar la competitividad
de la ciencia” (March 2018), or the establishment of a forum for the dialogue between the directive teams of the
Severo Ochoa and María de Maeztu centres and units.
Serrano finished his term reminding, as well, the importance of dialogue during his period in the presidency of
SOMMa: “The frank, constant, constructive dialogue between those who do the research and those who administer
the research system is the way to match the actions that are possible with the real necessities: both those needs
that are urgent and those for the long term. We must build on top of our strengths and successes and not give up
on the correction of the deficiencies of our system. Hopefully we reach a 2.5 % investment in research by 2030.
The sustainability of the welfare state will depend upon the ability to generate high added value and, as a result,
on sectors and industries based on the generation of knowledge”.
Source: SOMM Excellence Alliance
