159
Gaining tenure is a just aspiration—even more so, and rightly—in these
times when job insecurity looms large. Obtaining a fixed position as a civil
servant in Spain is a guarantee of a secure future, but such posts are hard to
come by because they are few and far between, and the competition is fierce.
But once ensconced in a permanent job nobody can fire you, however unproductive you might become. There exists the danger that obtaining tenure
encourages settling into an easy life and resting on one’s laurels, although this
is an infrequent occurrence in research. It can also happen that the person
hired as a supposed genius, although a bit odd and extravagant, turns out to
be just odd and extravagant. I must confess that the heterodox have always
appealed to me because I am convinced that they are necessary for the advancement of knowledge. They are the ones who confront established paradigms
with new ideas.
Researchers have a tendency to undervalue, even despise, the tasks of
administration and management, which they see as burdensome bureaucracy.
There is undoubtedly some truth in this, but it is unavoidable in these times.
It is well recognized that in Europe, and in Spain particularly, research centres
live on public funding, assigned and invigilated by politicians of the day with
their own views and understanding of things. For that reason, the regulations
concerning budgetary control employed by Spanish public organisms are not
devised to take into account the peculiarities of scientific research. These truisms are deciding factors that force our centres to carry out research that
adapts to generic norms, created for circumstantial political reasons that
change according to the party in power. An example of this and of the blinkered attitude of our rulers, who still see R&D as a luxury afforded by rich
countries rather than as a profitable investment, are the paltry annual budges
assigned to research. How is it possible, things being as they are, that any
competitive research at all is being done in Spain?
Viewed with the logical reasoning of some of our best researchers, all this is
incomprehensible, even more so when they see their treasured and valuable
research harmed by mundane considerations. The situation is yet more frustrating for the more fundamentalist ones, who are dazzled by the environment and achievements of the best centres in the world, those with great
traditions, abundant funding, and flexible contracts.
I shall end this chapter on an optimistic note. The IAC obtained hard-won
accreditation as a ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ on the creation of that
Spanish institution; it has held on to that accreditation ever since. I confess
that one of the things I like and enjoy most is to walk through the corridors
of the Institute, or enter the cafeteria, to see so many young people, all
unknown to me, from different countries and cultures.
16 Towards Excellence in Research (1971–Present)
Gaining tenure is a just aspiration—even more so, and rightly—in these
times when job insecurity looms large. Obtaining a fixed position as a civil
servant in Spain is a guarantee of a secure future, but such posts are hard to
come by because they are few and far between, and the competition is fierce.
But once ensconced in a permanent job nobody can fire you, however unproductive you might become. There exists the danger that obtaining tenure
encourages settling into an easy life and resting on one’s laurels, although this
is an infrequent occurrence in research. It can also happen that the person
hired as a supposed genius, although a bit odd and extravagant, turns out to
be just odd and extravagant. I must confess that the heterodox have always
appealed to me because I am convinced that they are necessary for the advancement of knowledge. They are the ones who confront established paradigms
with new ideas.
Researchers have a tendency to undervalue, even despise, the tasks of
administration and management, which they see as burdensome bureaucracy.
There is undoubtedly some truth in this, but it is unavoidable in these times.
It is well recognized that in Europe, and in Spain particularly, research centres
live on public funding, assigned and invigilated by politicians of the day with
their own views and understanding of things. For that reason, the regulations
concerning budgetary control employed by Spanish public organisms are not
devised to take into account the peculiarities of scientific research. These truisms are deciding factors that force our centres to carry out research that
adapts to generic norms, created for circumstantial political reasons that
change according to the party in power. An example of this and of the blinkered attitude of our rulers, who still see R&D as a luxury afforded by rich
countries rather than as a profitable investment, are the paltry annual budges
assigned to research. How is it possible, things being as they are, that any
competitive research at all is being done in Spain?
Viewed with the logical reasoning of some of our best researchers, all this is
incomprehensible, even more so when they see their treasured and valuable
research harmed by mundane considerations. The situation is yet more frustrating for the more fundamentalist ones, who are dazzled by the environment and achievements of the best centres in the world, those with great
traditions, abundant funding, and flexible contracts.
I shall end this chapter on an optimistic note. The IAC obtained hard-won
accreditation as a ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ on the creation of that
Spanish institution; it has held on to that accreditation ever since. I confess
that one of the things I like and enjoy most is to walk through the corridors
of the Institute, or enter the cafeteria, to see so many young people, all
unknown to me, from different countries and cultures.
16 Towards Excellence in Research (1971–Present)