Ramón y Cajal researchers denounce that they cannot access the permanent position they had promised them

BarcelonaOne of the many ways in which public universities in the State try to attract talent and entice high-level researchers to develop their research here are the Ramón y Cajal contracts. This program from the Ministry of Science and Universities has served for 25 years as a tool for the beneficiaries researchers to eventually obtain, after a few years, a stable job position. However, this objective of ending up with a stable position is what various researchers are now denouncing is at risk.

In a letter sent to the director of the State Research Agency, José Manuel Fernández de Labastida, about thirty researchers from Catalan universities assure that they know of cases where this stabilization commitment is not being "materialized appropriately". In the document advanced by El País and that ARA has been able to consult, it is stated that they know of "several cases" of researchers who, "after satisfactorily completing their Ramón y Cajal contract", have not found "an effective stabilization path" at the institution – normally universities – that had received them. In other words, the promise of ending up with a stable contract as researchers has not been fulfilled by the institution.

In the letter, they also criticize that these individuals have been forced to "temporarily finance" their continuation in the projects they had underway, or else have to leave for other countries. The letter is signed by 32 Ramón y Cajal researchers from the main Catalan universities – UAB, UB, UPC, UPF, UdG, UdL, UVic, and URV – although this does not mean that all of them are directly affected by the situation.

Although they say they know of several cases, the document also warns that they do not have public, systematic, and updated information to "determine the real dimension of the problem", which is why they ask the State Research Agency to conduct a diagnosis on the matter.

More than 90% would have stabilized

According to data from the Ministry of Science advanced by El País, between 2012 and 2019, 94% of Ramón y Cajal grants have ended in stabilization. Ministry sources assure the newspaper that cases where a position is not ultimately created for the researcher "represent a minority," and they defend that the data "do not allow us to consider that there is a structural problem in the Ramón y Cajal program."

However, from the Spanish Office for Research Integrity, the association that advises researchers from all over the State, they warn that they are receiving a trickle of situations of this type. Although a count has not yet been made, they explain to ARA that in recent months they have received a dozen similar cases, and that the majority are from researchers working in Catalonia, although they have also received them from Madrid, Andalusia, and Salamanca. From the Observatory, however, they warn that the problem could be "much greater," since many affected researchers prefer not to publicly report their situation for fear of losing their jobs.