La Scientific power and the state of research in Spain They are living through a moment that is as interesting as it is contradictory. Our country has made an enormous leap in knowledge production in just a few decades, has consolidated its position on the international stage, and has demonstrated throughout the pandemic Its scientific system knows how to react. But at the same time, it suffers from chronic problems of funding, job insecurity, inefficient evaluation, and a lack of connection with the productive sector, which hinder its real impact.
If we look at the data calmly, we see a complex picture: R&D spending increases, the number of researchers grows, and scientific output skyrockets.But we still lag behind the OECD and European Union averages in investment, we generate fewer patents than our economic weight would suggest, and much of our talent is leaving the country in search of better opportunities. Let's examine, calmly but frankly, the true state of science in Spain and the challenges it faces.
R&D spending in Spain: clear progress, but still insufficient
In recent years there has been a sustained increase in resources allocated to research and developmentwith a clear turning point around 2020. That year, R&D spending reached 1,41% of GDP, approaching the historical high of 2010 (1,4%). This is a noticeable improvement after the cuts of the financial crisis, but international comparisons bring us back down to earth.
While Spain invests that 1,41% of GDP in R&DThe average for OECD countries is around 2,68%, and for the European Union, it's around 2,20%. In other words, we're heading in the right direction, but we're still clearly behind the group we claim to aspire to emulate. If we look at benchmarks like Germany, the gap widens: the Germans are close to 3% of GDP, double that of Spain.
Within this global effort, the business sector and private non-profit institutions (PNPIs) have gained significant traction. In 2020, Companies and non-profit institutions accounted for 55,9% of total R&D spendingThis percentage is higher than it was in 2010 and 2015. This data indicates that, little by little, the private productive sector is assuming a more relevant role in the financing of science, although there is still a long way to go to get closer to the countries where private investment clearly leads the research effort.
In parallel, the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation It acts as the main tool of the General State Administration to channel aid to R&D&I and implement the Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (EECTI) 2021-2027. This strategy is structured in two state plans (2021-2023 and 2024-2027) that group calls for proposals under a competitive bidding system, designed to finance projects, personnel contracts, infrastructure and knowledge transfer actions.
Research staff: growth, partial feminization and precariousness
One of the pillars of the system is people. In 2020, Spain had 231.769 workers dedicated to R&D activities, almost 9.800 more than in 2010. This figure reflects the increasing importance of science in the economy, but it also represents a great responsibility: it is not enough to train researchers, we must offer them decent and stable conditions.
The gender distribution reveals an ambivalent reality. On the one hand, The presence of women in R&D has increasedsupported by initiatives such as the International Day of Women and Girls in ScienceAnd in some sectors, they even make up more than 50% of the workforce. In the public sector, women account for around 53,7% of the workforce, while in private companies and non-profit institutions, they barely reach 31,8%. In other words, women are much more concentrated in the public sector than in the private sector, precisely where salaries and career paths tend to be less competitive in market terms.
In the universities and in the higher education system The situation is somewhat more balanced but still imperfect. In 2019, approximately 43,4% of university researchers were women. By scientific field, there has been an improvement in female representation in medical, agricultural, social, and human sciences; however, in the exact and natural sciences, engineering, and technology, women's participation has stagnated or even declined.
If we look at doctoral theses, between 2015 and 2020 Around 48,5% of the theses read were defended by womenInitiatives that promote young talent, such as the Geology OlympiadThey help to feed that pool of talent. However, in key areas for digital and productive transformation, the gap remains very pronounced: computer science (barely 20% female doctoral students), engineering, industry, and construction (just over 32% women), and business, administration, and law (close to 40%). In other words, precisely in the most strategic areas for the country's economic future, female talent is clearly underrepresented.
Beyond the overall figures, organizations such as Confederation of Scientific Societies of Spain (COSCE) Research associations abroad also emphasize another critical point: job insecurity and instability. Many scientists have salaries, yes, but they lack stable and predictable funding to plan their research in the medium and long term. Competitive projects are almost the only way to obtain material and human resources, but funds are scarce and deadlines are short and erratic.
This situation fuels the well-known "brain drain"Between 2010 and 2015, more than twelve thousand researchers left Spain seeking better conditions in other countries, especially in places like the United States, where institutional support, public-private partnerships, and incentives for excellence are more established. This is compounded by the complex and slow bureaucracy involved in obtaining permanent positions, which many scientists describe as a veritable administrative ordeal.
Scientific output: high quantity, university leadership, and doubts about excellence
If there is one area where Spain has excelled in recent decades, it is in the number of scientific publicationsSince the approval of the first Science Law (13/1986) and the development of modern science policies after the democratic transition, the volume of articles produced by Spanish institutions has skyrocketed.
Between 1981 and 2003, the number of scientific papers signed from Spain rose from just 3.382 to 24.737, a increase of more than 600%During that same period, Spain's contribution to the global total rose from 0,8% to 3,1%. In more recent periods, between 2016 and 2020, production growth reached 30,54% compared to the previous five-year period. Around 2020, Spain was positioned as the twelfth world power by volume of publications, contributing approximately 3,6% to global production.
Universities are by far the main driver of this productionThey generate nearly 60% of Spanish scientific articles and employ a high proportion of research staff. Around 2020, 46,2% of the country's researchers worked in the higher education sector, a percentage well above the EU-27 average (just over 32%). While there are private, non-profit companies and institutions, the percentage of researchers in these sectors is around 38,3%.
In territorial terms, scientific activity is concentrated mainly in a few autonomous communities. Madrid continues to lead in knowledge production with just over 27% of the total, followed by Catalonia (around 25%), Andalusia (almost 16%), and the Valencian Community (around 12%). This concentration reflects, among other factors, the location of major universities, leading hospitals, and cutting-edge research centers.
However, when analyzing the quality and impact of publications The picture is less encouraging. In the five-year period from 2016 to 2020, approximately 14,8% of articles with Spanish participation were among the top 10% most cited worldwide. This isn't bad, but a worrying trend is emerging: both the percentage of studies led by Spanish researchers and the proportion of publications recognized for their international excellence have declined.
More demanding indicators, such as presence in the 1%, 0,1%, or even 0,02% of the world's most cited articles, show that the Spain's contribution to cutting-edge scientific advances is relatively small.Comparisons with countries like the United Kingdom or the Netherlands, or with leading universities in the United States, reveal stark differences when measuring the number of publications in that 0,02% more cited per million inhabitants. While those countries average around 2,9 or 3 publications per million, Spain lags behind at approximately 0,25; that is, about ten times less.
In other words: in overall volume we “almost passed”, but in contribution to truly transformative discoveries the suspense is evidentThis pattern is also reflected in an extreme, yet illustrative, indicator: Nobel Prizes. Spanish institutions are barely linked to major scientific awards compared to European or American centers, confirming this lack of critical mass in cutting-edge science.
Quality, evaluation and the problem of the "publish for the sake of publishing" culture
A significant number of analysts agree that the Spanish R&D system has been too focused on reward the quantity of items rather than its quality or its real impact on the advancement of knowledge and society. This dynamic is rooted in the very way research careers are evaluated and resources are allocated.
Since the late 80s, with the creation of the National Commission for the Evaluation of Research Activity (CNEAI)A model was implemented that, in its initial phase, significantly increased the number of publications. Later, the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA), the National Agency for Evaluation and Foresight (ANEP), and even the CSIC consolidated evaluations based on simplified criteria, heavily focused on the impact factor of the journals where the work is published.
This type of evaluation has been heavily criticized for violating the basic principles of bibliometricsThe positive correlation between the number of citations and scientific relevance is reasonable at the level of individual articles, but the impact factor is a journal average, not a measure of the quality of each work. Illustrative examples show that an article with many citations in a journal with a medium impact factor can, objectively, be much more influential than another with few citations but published in a prestigious journal.
When publishing in high-impact journals is systematically rewarded, a conservative strategy is encouraged: produce many low-risk jobs with little real impactBut they fit well into evaluation metrics. Research at the true frontier of knowledge is riskier and can involve failures or long periods without publishable results; in a system that penalizes "gaps" in the curriculum, few dare to take that risk.
All of this ultimately results in a system that, despite having competent researchers, functions in a inefficient in terms of contribution to global scientific advancementThe data showing only 0,02% of the most cited articles and the limited presence in high-level international awards and recognitions are clear symptoms of this structural problem.
University research: resources, specialization and transfer
Spanish universities are the hard core of the scientific systemIn 2020, spending on R&D in higher education reached €4.202 billion. Of that amount, public universities accounted for approximately 89% of the spending, while private universities accounted for around 7,3%. In other words, the public sector continues to have an overwhelming presence in university research.
If we analyze R&D investment in relation to regional GDP, the Basque Country, the Community of Madrid, and Catalonia appear as the communities that invest the most proportionallyHowever, when only R&D spending in the higher education sector is considered, other regions such as Andalusia, Murcia, and Castile and León stand out, allocating a significant portion of their regional budget to strengthen their universities as engines of knowledge.
Regarding the thematic distribution of university spending on R&D, the picture is relatively balanced. Around 2020, approximately 22,7% of the budget was allocated to engineering and technology25,9% to social sciences, 19,3% to exact and natural sciences, around 12,1% to humanities and arts, close to 16,6% to medical sciences and 3,5% to agricultural and veterinary sciences. In other words, disciplines strongly oriented towards technological innovation coexist with more humanistic and social fields, all of which are necessary to address the complex challenges of the 21st century.
Despite this central role, universities are not yet the preferred partner of companies When it comes to collaborating on R&D activities, many Spanish companies, especially SMEs, prefer to cooperate with other private companies outside their group rather than with universities or public research organizations. In 2021, only 31% of companies could be considered active in innovation, compared to the OECD average of 49%, highlighting a still-weak innovation ecosystem.
This distancing has direct consequences: in 2020 a global decline in private funding for university R&D around 7% compared to the previous year. It is noteworthy that, meanwhile, in private universities, business contributions did increase to around 5,6% of their R&D, suggesting that the productive sector sometimes feels more comfortable collaborating with private centers than with public ones, even though the latter carry out the vast majority of academic research.
Experts point to the need to strengthen existing programs to strengthen the university-business relationshipExamples include the Torres Quevedo grants for hiring PhDs in companies and industrial PhD programs. These tools allow researchers to spend time in the private sector, understand its needs, and facilitate the two-way exchange of knowledge.
However, the transfer of results remains one of the system's "unfinished tasks." Although in 2020 universities managed to attract €634 million through R&D contracts and collaboration with third parties (a 9% increase compared to the previous year) and 70 spin-offs were created, Intellectual property agreements and the creation of technology-based companies are not yet established paths. of transfer in many Research Results Transfer Offices (RTOs). It is expected that new legislation and ongoing reforms will simplify procedures and provide these offices with more resources and management capacity.
Business innovation, patents and the weak link in technology transfer
When comparing the Spanish science with its capacity for innovationA well-known gap reappears: the country produces a lot of academic research but transforms relatively little of that knowledge into technology, patents, and high value-added products or services.
The data from international patents is clear: Spain occupies positions far behind what it should be given its economic weight.In certain global rankings, the country is around 17th in patent generation, quite far from the top 10 it achieves in scientific article production. This is a clear indication that the leap from the laboratory to the market has not yet occurred with the necessary intensity.
This contradiction became clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the one hand, the Spanish scientific community reacted quickly, participated in multiple international consortia, generated data, developed clinical trials, and contributed relevant knowledge about the virus and its effects. On the other hand, the lack of stable planning in critical areas such as cancer or chronic diseases were exposed. Many cancer research centers were forced to operate “at a reduced capacity” for months, redirecting resources to anti-COVID measures, which resulted in estimated delays of six months or more in different lines of work.
Cancer research experts insist that, although specific cancer funding was not drastically reduced during the health crisis, There is no sufficiently clear long-term national cancer research strategyIn a country where more than 275.000 cases are diagnosed each year and where this disease is expected to be the leading cause of death worldwide by 2030, the lack of a robust and stable cancer R&D plan poses a clear risk. Furthermore, these delays also affected research into other neurodegenerative diseases such as... Alzheimer's progression.
The lack of a strong culture of public-private collaboration and long-term strategic planning also has consequences for international competitiveness. While Spain invests around the 1,2-1,4% of GDP in R&DCountries like South Korea triple that effort and have managed to build true technological powerhouses. Paradoxically, with that difference in investment, Spanish scientists publish more and with greater academic impact than their South Korean counterparts, but they lag far behind in their ability to patent and transform knowledge into tangible innovation. This weakness also affects strategic resources and technological autonomy, for example in sectors such as... rare earth.
Associations of Spanish scientists abroad also point to other specific obstacles: lack of recognition, scarce incentives, and a very cumbersome bureaucracy to launch projects, sign contracts, or access permanent positions. All of this discourages the creation of technology-based companies and makes it difficult for talented individuals trained here to decide to stay and start businesses or innovate in their own country.
Plans, laws, and the eternal debate about the model of the scientific system
In recent years, several different things have happened. legal reforms and strategic plans With the stated intention of modernizing Spanish science, improving its governance, and facilitating knowledge transfer, the Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (EECTI), successive State Plans, and proposals for a new Science Law seek, at least on paper, to provide stability to the system, simplify procedures, strengthen the State Research Agency, and guarantee progressively increasing funding.
However, a large part of the research community criticizes the fact that many of these initiatives do not address the root of the structural problems. For example, the idea that there is a kind of Spanish (or European) “paradox” according to which we have an excellent scientific level but fail in transferSome analysts point out that, in reality, the level of excellence at the frontier of knowledge is not as high as proclaimed and that, if top-level advances are not generated, it is difficult to have a powerful flow of disruptive innovations into the economy.
From this perspective, focusing almost exclusively on fixing the transfer without reviewing the evaluation mechanisms, incentives and organization of the R&D system This could be a mistake. If the system pushes researchers to publish a lot and take few risks, and if institutional structures are not designed to foster ambitious, long-term projects, any law that doesn't address these fundamental issues will fall short.
At the same time, organizations like COSCE are demanding a State Pact for Science They demand that funding be secured and dependence on political fluctuations reduced. They call for the State Research Agency to have a stable, multi-year budget, with sufficient autonomy from the government in power, and for science policy decisions to be made by genuinely listening to the research community, not just using it as a symbolic endorsement.
In this context, rigorous evaluation of information is also key. Some administrative offices have disseminated overly optimistic analyses that emphasize unselective statistics and fuel a triumphalist narrative that clashes with data on excellence or knowledge transfer. Sound science policy decisions require... realistic diagnoses, without embellishmentthat recognize both achievements and shortcomings.
Looking at the whole picture, Spanish science moves in a kind of unstable equilibrium: with remarkable results in production volume and a much greater international presence than a few decades agoBut Spain also suffers from below-potential transfer of knowledge to the economy, insufficient rates of excellence at the forefront of knowledge, and a fragile labor structure that forces thousands of researchers to seek stability abroad. There is ample room for improvement, and the opportunity is enormous: if funding comparable to the European average is combined with far-reaching reforms in evaluation, research career development, and collaboration with industry, Spain could transform much of the talent and effort it is already investing in its scientific system into innovation and social well-being.
