The 260 million euros of outstanding research funds for 2024 and 2025 will arrive in Catalonia. This was one of the agreements for the investiture of Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, agreed upon with the ERC (Regional Regional Government of Catalonia). This is a more than significant sum for a relevant sector. Although it shouldn't be news that the agreements are being fulfilled and that R&D (research and development) is a priority, unfortunately it is. We're too used to folders forgotten in a drawer and good intentions that don't materialize. Therefore, yes, it is news: 260 million euros to strengthen leading institutions such as the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), the Alba Synchrotron, the Quantum Valley, and the Center for Genomic Analysis, among others. It also supports the decarbonization plants in Tarragona and 42 centers in the Cerca network.
What's needed now is for the fine print to be left untouched by the agreement so that all these knowledge and innovation platforms can simply carry out their work under better conditions. That is, without precarious contracts that don't guarantee the continuity of researchers and without facilities in need of expansion or updating. Theirs is a task that experts tirelessly emphasize is essential to driving the Catalan economy toward qualitative growth that will overcome its dependence on tourism and position Catalonia as an innovative region. We therefore need top-level research and the effective transfer of the knowledge generated by this research to industrial sectors. Only in this way will we be able to create high-level jobs and retain and attract talent. In this regard, today, with the Trumpist closure of the United States, a window of opportunity opens. In any case, the change in the production model depends on these premises, as easy to formulate as they are difficult to actually put into practice. This injection of resources should help it.
Beyond the specific news we're now discussing, announced yesterday first by the leader of the ERC (Republic of Catalonia), Oriol Junqueras, and then immediately afterward by the Regional Minister for Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat, what would be even more worthy of celebration is that comparable or increasing amounts will be consolidated in the coming years. Because, as is well known, the search requires continuity and long-term results. Stability is crucial when it comes to obtaining consistent results in the fields of science and technology. The cost of research is high, but the trade-off is multiplier potential. Sometimes research commitments don't have an immediate reward: it's a risk that must be assumed as part of a strategy that can be summed up in three words: research, research, and transfer. A strategy that must be supported by political conviction, persistence, and effective execution. With such a commitment, if the fields of action are well diversified and aligned with the productive sectors, achievements will eventually come. If, on the other hand, only immediacy and short-term electoralism count—an all-too-common vice in today's politics—then there's nothing to be done.
