Image: La Moncloa - Gobierno de España [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0], via Flickr
Almost €4 billion announced for science ministry is biggest R&D budget in country’s history
The Spanish government has announced a 2023 R&D budget of almost €4 billion—the largest annual R&D budget in Spain’s history.
The R&D budget will increase for the third consecutive year, the government announced on 7 October, rising by 4 per cent from last year and almost doubling from 2020.
Science minister Diana Morant (pictured) said the budget responds to the government’s commitment to improving working conditions in the public science and innovation system. It comes after Spain passed a wide-ranging bill in August to boost R&D careers.
While the total budget is €3.9bn, the national budget, without EU funds, has risen by 20 per cent from last year to €2.6bn.
Morant said the investment puts Spain on the path to complying with the requirement in its new science, technology and innovation law to reach the goal of 1.25 per cent of GDP going to R&D by 2030.
Within the new budget, €498m has been set aside to fund 3,850 new predoctoral and postdoctoral staff contracts between 2022 and 2023. Predoctoral researcher salaries will also increase by 7.6 percent over their four-year contracts.
The government added that a new call will be launched in 2023 with €40m of funding to encourage the return of high-level researchers to Spain.
Also in 2023, the Spanish Science Agency will launch with a budget of €500m.