An event was held on wednesday 4th of december in Brussels to review the evolution of the Spanish participation in the EU R&D&I FP, from their launch in 1984 to the present day, when Spain has consolidated its position as a Horizon Europe main player.
According to the latest available data for 2021-2023 calls, Spanish entities have reached their best results ever, reaching 11,7% of the funds allocated to EU countries and ranking third in the EU for the first time. Spain has also consolidated its position as a leader in collaborative R&D&I projects, with 16% of the total and is now second, in number of participations leading to Spain being present in one out of every three proposals funded by Horizon Europe (30% more than in Horizon 2020).
The Spain Science & Innovation event was attended by the Secretary for Innovation of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Ms. Teresa Riesgo; CSIC Vice-President, Mr. Francisco Javier Moreno Fuentes; CDTI’s Director General, Mr. José Moisés Martín Carretero; FECYT’s Director General, Ms. Izaskun Lacunza, and Ms. Joanna Drake, Deputy Director General Planet, People and Science for Policy at DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission.
The main milestones in the evolution of the Spanish participation in EU R&D&I FP since their launch in 1984 were addressed and speakers walked us through this 40 years journey which has transformed Spain from a modest partner to a trusted leader. The authorities also underlined the obvious impact of EU FP in the Spanish R&I system and emphasised the Spanish administration's commitment to R&I.
Also, the Spanish leadership in different technological areas was underlined. Namely: Cluster 4: industry, Cluster 5: climate, Cluster 6: food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment, Wind energy, Renewable energy for heat and cold, construction, advanced materials, Processes4planet partnership, Made in Europe partnership, Satellite telecommunications, GNSS applications, Cloud-edge-IoT technologies, SESAR Air traffic, Multimodal transport, Logistics and infrastructure, and European innovation ecosystems.
This leadership capacity in different areas of Horizon Europe was reviewed through the eyes of four entities participating in European projects with very different profiles. From the largest research organisation, CSIC to two companies of different sizes, AQUALIA and ESTEYCO, through the UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE MADRID.Different proposals for improvement from a participant perspective were also discussed with a view to FP10.
Evolution of the Spanish participation in EU R&D&I Framework ProgrammesThe fourth FP (1994-1998) marked a turning point by considerably increasing its budget and thematic content. Spain made a great effort to adapt its support structures to participants by launching, among others: the Spanish Office for Science and Technology (SOST) in Brussels, specialized training programmes for European project managers and grants for the preparation of proposals. This catapulted the Spanish participation in key areas such as biotechnology, health and information technologies.
The big leap in Spain's participation came during the Seventh Framework Programme (2007-2013) through the launch of the Euroingenio programme. Ambitious objectives were set in terms of participation and leadership, an integrated participant support system was consolidated, and strategic actions were implemented. As a result, Spain led 10.7% of collaborative projects, reaching 8.3% of the funds allocated to EU countries. These figures have continued to improve. In Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.

The EU-Citizen.Science project has relased the Brief Report of the High-Level Policy Event Citizen Science for Policy across Europe, which was held online on June 22nd 2021 as a satellite event of the European Research and Innovation Days 2021. This event was organized in the framework of the EU-Citizen.Science project with the aim to explore the current state of citizen science in Europe and enhance synergies across borders. The event was curated by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, FECYT, Ibercivis Foundation and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and it received the support of the European Commission, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Portuguese Ministry of Science and Technology and Higher Education and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
The Brief Report provides the information about the event, as well as the resources mentioned in the debates and new ones that help to get a broader picture about the role of citizen science for policy making across Europe. It also illustrates the results of the questionnaire which was distributed among the participants in the event: governmental organisations, industry, NGOs & civil society organisations and academia. For example, 60% of respondents answered that citizen science is important in their national agenda and they highlighted some important measures adopted in support of citizen science such as the FECYT Call, the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte) Call and the National Action Plan Open Government Partnership Germany. Furthermore, the respondents put in evidence the role that citizen science can play for research and for policy making, and the importance to work hand in hand with policy makers to promote social and political change in research and innovation.
The Brief Report includes an infographic which highlights how publications that mention citizen science are growing in numbers since 2010 and scientists across the continent confirm that citizen science can deliver good quality data. In addition, the infographic describes the economic impact that citizen science can have by  increasing social and technological innovation, budget savings and budget availability to tackle additional issues of public concern.
On November 24-25 2021 there will be the opportunity to further discuss these topics within the context of the final conference of the EU-Citizen.Science and ACTION projects The future of citizen science: sharing experiences from the European community. This event is aimed at sharing experiences and stimulating debates about the role citizen science can play in supporting a sustainable, just and green Europe. Furthermore, on November, the 25th from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm (CET) another satellite high-level policy event will take place. The full programme and registration are available at this link.
About EU-Citizen.ScienceEU-Citizen.Science has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under grant agreement No. 824580.

The Spanish Foundation of Science and Technology (FECYT), in collaboration with other EURAXESS national networks, opens today a new edition of the mentoring programme, REBECA. This programme adressess researchers who want to know more about their professional options beyond the academic career.
This edition runs across the entire EURAXESS initiative, a network dedicated to supporting the mobility and the professional development of researchers in Europe. This way, REBECA expands its boarders and aims at connecting mentors and mentees from different countries.
The REBECA by EURAXESS programme will put in contact academic researchers at early career stages with mentors of diverse disciplines, working at research and development, communication or project management within the private sector, the public administrations or non-governmental organizations. These mentors and mentees will have the opportunities to exchange their professional views, expectations, opportunities and next steps to pursue careers outside of academia.
The applications must be submitted through this online platform. Mentors can upload their applications from today until 25th of November at 23:59 CET. The mentee’s application will open the 29th of November and close the 9th of December.  The pair meetings and other planned events will start at the beginning of January 2022.
For more information, please visit the EURAXESS portal.

The Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) and the Network of Associations of Spanish Researchers and Scientists Abroad (RAICEX) have successfully closed the 2020-2021 edition of REBECA (REsearchers BEyond Academia), an intersectoral mentoring program whose aim is to explore career options beyond academia.
For six months, 80 young predoctoral and postdoctoral researchers have reflected on their professional aspirations, competencies and skills with 80 highly qualified professionals in science, technology and innovation, who have advised them on alternative and non-academic careers. The program has also offered various training sessions.
At the end of the edition, a satisfaction and impact survey was carried out, which was answered by 61 of the 80 mentees and 58 of the 80 mentors.
Main results After REBECA, 71% of mentees know about the options outside the academic field, when before starting the program it was only 15% who knew about it.
 77% of mentees are clear about what their research experience contributes to working outside the academic field, whereas it was only 21% before starting REBECA.

66% of mentees are clear, after REBECA, what weaknesses they should address in order to apply for a job outside the academia. Before REBECA it was 12%.
In this edition approximately 20% of REBECA participants were located outside of Spain, so international pairs were established. 83% of mentees and 75% of mentors in international pairs consider that they have benefited from their partner's international experience.
89% of mentees and 94% of mentors value the participation of Spanish scientists abroad through RAICEX as very useful or useful.

Likewise, 91% of mentees rate the REBECA experience as good or very good and 98% would recommend it. 87% are satisfied or very satisfied with the match with their mentor and 80% plan to keep in touch with him or her. 87% are completely satisfied with the topics discussed with their mentor during the program and 85% have met at least four times with their mentor.
On the other hand, 95% of mentors rate the REBECA experience as good or very good and 98% would recommend it. In addition, 84% plan to keep in touch with their mentee.
In 2021, FECYT will participate in a new edition of REBECA at the European level in the framework of the EURAXESS Hubs project.

The European project Discovery Learning, in which FECYT participates with the aim of applying an innovative method of learning transferable skills for early stage researchers, launches its training offer for this autumn. The training is composed of different sessions focusing on transferable skills training for ESR’s and PhD students from European institutions.
During these sessions, trainers will have the opportunity to access a practical and interactive format, delivered by professionals specialised in a wide range of science and technology topics. The goal will be to train participants in a range of transferable skills that enhance their career in the academia and beyond.Topics such as science diplomacy and science consultancy, management of R&I projects and science communication will be some of the addressed topics during these sessions, among many others.
The registration form for each session will be opened around 15 days in advance through an online platform available on the project's website. The first webinar on science diplomacy will be held on next Friday 22th October and has already sold out its capacity for registrations.  A new training on R&I project management and leadership is scheduled for 25th October, and the registration form is still available on the project website. 

Discovery Learning has received funding from the European Union's 2020 research and innovation found and has a complete duration of 18 months. The project, which started on 1 December 2020, involves four institutions from three different countries: the Slovak Academic Information Agency (SAIA), the University of Oslo in Norway (UniOslo) and FECYT, and is led by the Spanish consulting firm Research Technology Development and Innovation (RTDI). FECYT is in charge of the communication and visibility tasks of the project.
All the information related to Discovery Learning can be followed through its Twitter account @DiscoveryLearn4 and its website https://discoverylearning.eu/.