The knowledge-based economy has become a priority objective for countries and regions, since its adoption implies higher levels of competitiveness and development and more resistance to crises in terms of income, productivity, and employment. This model implies transitioning from a traditional one to one that requires using more qualified productive resources such as research, innovation, technology, or human talent. Its consolidation in a territory depends on multiple factors such as public investment policies, the composition of its business fabric, or human capital dedicated to R&D&I.
And Andalusia has decided to play a long-term game towards that knowledge economy. And it does so with a figure that marks the magnitude of the commitment: 1,591 researchers and technicians incorporated or in the process of being incorporated into the Andalusian R&D system, with a public investment close to 138 million euros.
Behind the data there is a strategy. And, above all, a clear political intention: to strengthen the scientific muscle of the community, rejuvenate staff, stabilize research careers and prevent talent trained at home from ending up developing its potential elsewhere.
The Ministry of University, Research and Innovation of the Junta de Andalucía has made the attraction and retention of talent one of the central pillars of the legislature. The objective is not only academic: it is about consolidating a more competitive productive model, less vulnerable to crises and sustained by research, innovation and technology.
Since 2022, the Andalusian Executive has promoted different calls —some already resolved and others in the processing phase— that will allow the incorporation of almost 1,600 professionals into the Andalusian knowledge system. Most of them will be destined for the nine Andalusian public universities, responsible for the bulk of regional scientific production.
The strategy covers all phases of the research career: from those who begin their doctoral thesis to scientists with consolidated international trajectory.
Of those human resources accounted for, 428 positions correspond to researchers linked to the predoctoral training aid programs, postdoctoral hiring, and Emergia —the latter focused on attracting more consolidated careers— launched by the Ministry of University under a competitive bidding regime.
At the first level are located 192 young researchers in training who, thanks to the predoctoral grants awarded during four years, are developing or will do so in the coming months their doctoral theses in nine public universities and in R&D organizations, foundations and public centers. These subsidies are quantified at 21.28 million. It is the base of the scientific pyramid: training today those who will lead research groups tomorrow.
The next step is occupied by 194 doctoral researchers who access three-year postdoctoral contracts, endowed with 26.44 million euros. The objective is to favor their professional career and strengthen with new talent the R&D groups of the entities where they are incorporated. But here there is a relevant novelty: public universities assume the commitment to announce assistant doctor positions at the end of the grants, according to the criteria established by the Ministry of University. That is to say, not only is the temporary contract financed; a real door to stabilization is opened.
At the apex of the system are located the 42 internationally relevant scientists incorporated through the Emergia program with an investment by the regional Executive of 10.14 million euros. These are consolidated profiles, many of them with experience outside Andalusia, who find in this call a way to develop or recover their research career in the community. The program also includes a commitment to stabilization, a key element to attract senior talent.
The less visible gear: 80 million for technicians
However, research does not advance only with principal investigators. It needs laboratory technicians, project management specialists, profiles that support the administrative and scientific architecture of R&D.
Therefore, the Ministry of University, Research and Innovation has allocated 50 million euros for the hiring of 863 support and management technicians in Andalusian public universities. These are two-year contracts aimed at unemployed young people under 30 years of age with a university degree or vocational training.
To this figure are added around 300 more young people who could join public research centers, foundations, and institutes through a call launched at the end of last year and currently under evaluation. A measure that pursues the dual objective of improving the employability of under 30s and, at the same time, strengthening the activity of the entities they join.
In total, around 80 million euros dedicated to strengthening that technical fabric which, although less visible, is essential for scientific projects to be executed, justified, and scaled.
In all these programs focused on strengthening the human resources employed in Andalusian science, the Ministry of University has relied on its own resources or on European co-financing, through the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) for the period 2021-2027.
Coverage of the entire research career
The R&D constitutes an area of high interest for the community, since both promote the progress and well-being of society and are closely linked to business competitiveness and, therefore, to the economic development of the community. Therefore, supporting research talent capable of making valuable contributions to Andalusian science from the beginning to the consolidation of their career constitutes a priority.
In short, the Ministry of University carries out that accompaniment through these four major programs: the one aimed at the incorporation into public academic institutions of young researchers and technical support and R&D management staff, the second is oriented towards predoctoral training, the third seeks the hiring of researchers with a doctoral degree and the fourth refers to the Emergia line.
International Projection: The Fulbright Way
But the commitment to talent is not limited to the autonomous scope. Aside from this support for personnel dedicated to research, the Ministry of University has made it possible that since 2022 a total of 49 university graduates and young researchers from Andalusian public universities can complete their academic and scientific training in prominent higher education institutions and research centers in the USA, with a global investment of 2.14 million euros.
This type of specific aid for young Andalusians with brilliant curricula makes it possible for the recipients to carry out master's studies or predoctoral research stays within the framework of their doctoral programs or of a postdoctoral nature.
The duration of the scholarships is variable, contemplating periods of between six and twelve months, in the case of stays for predoctoral researchers, and of one or two years in duration for master's studies. The selected profiles respond to a wide diversity of specialization areas, ranging from health sciences, biomedicine and biotechnology, to engineering, humanities, social sciences, philosophy, translation or environmental studies.
The majority of academic institutions and host centers where these training experiences take place are usually included in the main international academic rankings, highlighting, among others, Harvard University (Massachusetts), the University of California (Berkeley, San Diego, Irvine or Santa Barbara), Cornell, Chicago, New York or Johns Hopkins.
Beyond the numbers, the underlying issue is structural: if Andalusia wants to compete in a knowledge-based economy, it needs qualified human capital, professional stability, and the capacity to attract external talent without losing its own. With 1,591 incorporations and almost 138 million euros mobilized, the Andalusian Executive has put figures to that ambition
