Spain
In Spain, the research is performed in both Universities and Research Institutes, while the funding and planning activities are managed by MEC, Ministry of Research, through regular calls defined in the framework of a 4 years national plan. The ministry also funds the membership and appoints deputies at ESO and also funds the ESA mandatory program. Spanish deputies at ESA Councils are appointed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Main Scientific Institutions
Universities provide a significant contribution to Spain’s research. University Departments, where research is conducted along with teaching, host several Astronomy groups. About 35 Universities host research groups in astrophysics.
The largest Spanish research public body is CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Superior Council for Scientific Research) that plays an active role in the science policy through many centres across Spain. CSIC covers all fields of knowledge, from basic research to advanced technological developments.
Four CSIC Institutes are involved in astrophysics and belong to the Physical and Technological Sciences Area (Área de Ciencias y Tecnologia Físicas). The largest being the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía which manages the Observatory of Calar Alto and the Sierra Nevada Observatory.
The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is the largest astronomy centre. It comprises the Instituto de Astrofísica, which forms the main headquarters in La Laguna (Tenerife), the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM, La Palma), the Observatorio del Teide, in Izaña (OT, Tenerife) and the Common Centre for Astrophysics on La Palma (CALP). Jointly, these form the so-called European Northern Observatory. The Spanish membership at consortium involves the MEC, the CSIC, the University of Laguna and the Regional Government of Canary Islands.
The Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (OAN – National Astronomical Observatory) is part of the IGN (Instituto Geográfico Nacional, National Geographic Institute) that belongs to the Ministry of Public Works (Ministerio de Fomento). OAN manages several astronomical facilities including the Spanish partnership in IRAM.
The space activities are mainly performed by INTA, the National Institute for Aerospace Technology, which belongs to the Ministry of Defence. It plays a role in astrophysics by providing technical assistance to the projects.
Funding
The main national funding resource is the Ministry of Education and Science. It funds research teams’ projects by calls on the base of a 4-yearly National Plan for Research, Development and Innovation, with a total budget for 2005 of 300 million euros. In 2000, it had created the Astronomy & Astrophysics Programme whose fundamental aim is to support basic research in astronomy and astrophysics and to design, develop and exploit astronomical instrumentation. The selection procedure is made by two steps: first a scientific, blind evaluation is done by the ANEP (Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de Proyectos, National Agency for Project Evaluation), an independent agency appointed by MEC, followed by a panel that defines the priorities according to the national plan. This is complemented by the National Space Programme, where an important ingredient is the development of scientific payloads for astronomy and solar system missions and their scientific exploitation.
Infrastructures, and particularly what in these days are called “singular scientific infrastructures” (which for Astronomy means telescopes or similar), are funded through independent channels and budgeted separately. An “Advisory Committee on Singular Infrastructures” proposes, evaluates and oversees these at national level.
A minor role in funding is played by other Ministries and also by Regional Governments.
The ESA membership is provided by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. Spain has recently become a member of ESO and the membership is funded by the Ministry of Education and Science.
Personel
The number of Spanish astrophysicists is relatively small, with 460 researchers in 2002, that corresponds to 11.8 per million of inhabitants.
Scientific positions in public bodies come from CSIC positions or autonomous government positions. In the case of CSIC researches, positions are subdivided in three levels. The number of new entry levels is decided by the Council of Ministers. Then, an ad hoc committee performs the selection.
Within Universities, a large fragmentation exists: only two university groups have more than 25 researchers, four groups have between 20 and 25 researchers, twelve groups have more than 5 and less than 10 researchers. Finally, six groups have less than 5 researchers.