Albaigés, J. (Joan)

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

SCIENTIFIC POLICY I N  
CATALONIA 
OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, THERE HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLE 
PROGRESS IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN CATALONIA: 
PARTICIPATION IN EUROPEAN PROGRAMMES, CONSOLIDATION 
OF RELATIONS BETWEEN INDUSTRY AND UNIVERSITIES, AND THE 
MANY SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS NOW 
n fostering and carrying out 
research, the Generalitat de 
Catalunya meets with serious ob- 
stacles of a juridical and especially finan- 
cial nature. 
Article 9.7 of the Statute of Autonomy 
states that the Generalitat has exclusive 
responsibility for "research, without pre- 
judice to the dispositions of No. 15, 
section 1, article 149 of the Consti- 
tution". If we read this article, we see 
that the State has exclusive responsibility 
for the "fostering and general co-ordi- 
nation of scientific and technological 
research". The State cannot therefore 
claim a monopoly over direct research 
H E R I B E R T  B A R R E R A  V I C E - P R E S I D E N T  O F  T H E  I N T E R D E P A R T M E N T A '  
C O M M I S S I O N  O N  R E S E A R C H  A N D  T E C H N O L O G I C A L  
I N V E S T I G A T I O N  ( C I R I T )  
but it can quite well feel that it is under 
no obligation to hand over research funds 
to the Generalitat. This explains the 
present dispute over the transfer of 
research centres which the State runs in 
Catalonia through the CSIC. The only 
centres transferred so far are those that 
are run by the Institute for Agroali- 
mentary Research and Technology 
(IRTA), which the State has handed over 
to the Department of Agriculture. 
The legal framework for state compe- 
tence in matters of research is laid out in 
Act 1311986, covering "Fomento y Coordi- 
nación General de la Investigación Cientí- 
fica i Técnica". This law provides a very 
restrictive interpretation of Catalonia's 
legal capacities and for this reason it was 
the subject of an appeal by the Catalan 
Parliament before the Constitutional 
Tribunal. The case is now awaiting 
sentence. The problem of legal compe- 
tence would have no importance if the 
system by which the Generalitat is fi- 
nanced allowed it sufficient funds to carry 
out its own research policy. Unfortunate- 
ly, this is not the case, since funding is 
decided according to the effective cost of 
the service transferred, at the time of 
transfer. If there is no transfer, there are 
no funds, and since in matters of research 
hardly anything has been transferred, the 
Generalitat has no funds reserved for 
research and can only lay out what it can 
afford from its meagre funds for un- 
restricted use. Nevertheless, and in spite 
of the fact that its direct financial contri- 
bution is necessarily smaller than that of 
the State, the sum total of the Generali- 
rat's activities through its different de- 
partments already amounts to an appreci- 
able percentage of its overall budget. 
In fact. in spite of the scarcity of funds, 
the autonomous government has always 
shown interest in promoting research. In 
November 1980. with the object of decid- 
ing the best possible scientific policy for 
Catalonia, the Generalitat set up the "In- 
terdepartmental Commission on Re- 
search and Technological Innovation" 
(CIRIT). According to the founding de- 
cree, its chief aims are to establish 
guidelines for action in matters of 
research, to co-ordinate the Generalitat 
departments' various activities and pro- 
grammes in this field, and to make pro- 
posals for the distribution of the total 
funds available. 
To  back up the' CIRIT, the same decree 
also created the Scientific and Technolo- 
gical Council" (CCT), made up of people 
of proven competence in the different 
spheres of activity. The CCT's job is to 
advise the Generalitat as regards scientific 
policy. to examine scientific and techno- 
logical objectives and research priorities, 
to assess scientific and technological acti- 
vity and in general to carry out any stu- 
dies that might lead to a more rational 
distribution of funds, closer co-operation 
between the different research organisms 
and a greater efficiency and financial 
stimulation of basic and applied research. 
In Catalonia, as in the rest @ the world, 
research is carried out through a variety 
of different organisms. First of all, there 
is the work done by the universities, 
which, traditionally, are the most im- 
portant research centres. Then there is 
the research carried out by other public 
institutions, that is to say, the Catalan 
centres belonging to the "Consejo Su- 
perior de Investigaciones Científicas" 
(CSIC), run by the State; the centres run 
by the Generalitat, such as the Experi- 
mental and Research Laboratory and the 
IRTA; the hospitals, thanks to the 
.Health Research Fund (FIS). provided 
by the Social Security; in centres be- 
longing to the Barcelona City Council or 
the Deputations, etc. There is also the 
research carried ou't or promoted by 
academic institutions. such as the Institur 
d'Estudis Catalans, and the private 
research carried out by cornpanies, which 
is growing steadily and which. in some 
sectors. is of a remarkably high quality. 
We do not yet have anything like a full 
and detailed picture of al1 the work being 
done in Catalonia in research, devel- 
opment and technological innovation. 
The Itistitut d'Estudis Catalans has signed 
an agreement with the CIRIT to 
undertake this work. and we shall soon 
have a relatively exhaustive inventory 
which will be kept permanently up to 
date with the help of a data bank. 
The CIRIT's own activities include a 
variety of different tasks. Worth rnen- 
tioning are the provision of grants for 
research and for further study abroad; fi- 
nancial assistance to young researchers; 
the CIRIT young people's awards; the 
encounters with science for young peo- 
ple; the subventions to scientific con- 
gresses; the technological innovation 
agreements; the teledocurnentation 
service: the CIRIT courses taken by 
foreign researchers; support for publi- 
cations; assistance to investigation 
centres in the purchase of research 
equiprnent or the rnaintenance of es- 
sential services, etc. Generally speaking, 
we could say that, within the limitations 
of its budget, the work undertaken 
by the CIRIT is airned at stimulating 
and supporting the work of the Catalan 
scientific community, facilitating con- 
tacts abroad and stimulating new voca- 
tions. 
It is impossible to make a balance of the 
results so far in the space available. Our 
researchers have already achieved inter- 
national recognition in a number of 
fields, and the overall progress made in 
the last few years is quite considerable. 
Participation in European programmes, 
the increasingly sound relations between 
industry and the universities, and the 
many scientific and technological inno- 
vations now under way allow hope for the 
future. Economic growth and research 
act as a mutual stimulus for one another, 
and the urge for rnodernization in al1 
fields leads to a generalized interest in 
research. At the moment. the chief cause 
for optirnism must surely be the growing 
awareness of the importance of research 
in today's world. 
Investigative activity -that is to say, the 
scientific application of scientific method 
to knowledge-isprobablyone of the rnost 
effective forms of human training, and in a 
country like ours. poor in natural resour- 
ces. human potential is. undoubtedly, our 
greatest, ourtrue wealth. 4 


Scientific Policy in Catalonia

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Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert