Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Maria A. Blanco takes over the presidency of the Severo Ochoa - María de Maetzu alliance (SOMMa)
María Blasco, Director of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) and until now vice president of SOMMa (the Alliance of Severo Ochoa centers and María de Maeztu units of excellence), substitutes Luis Serrano, Director of the CRG and president of SOMMa since its origins, in 2017.
After three years as president of the Severo Ochoa - María de Maeztu alliance (SOMMa), Luis Serrano, director of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) ends his term and steps down from the presidency. The new president will be Maria A. Blanco, rector of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), and until now first vice president of SOMMa. The new president has expressed her will to “carry on working for the recognition of Spanish science as one of the political and economic priorities of this country”. Blasco will be accompanied by SOMMa vice presidents Maria José Sanz, director of the Basque Centre For Climate Change (BC3), and Antonio Molina, director of the Centre for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics (CBGP-UPM-INIA).
The Servero Ochoa and María de Maeztu mentions are the highest intitutional recognition to scientific research in Spain. Their awardees, selected by an international evalution commitee, cover practically all areas of knowledge, from physics and mathematics to environmental sciences and biomedicine, as well as humanities. SOMMa gathers over 50 top Spanish research institutions with over 8,500 researchers, as an initiative to visibilize the Spanish research.
Luis Serrano steps down form the presidency after intensive efforts put in science policy, calling one more for R+D+I to become a priority for the country. “We cannot say that the current situation of science in Spain is good, but we have seen improvements”, he admits “We need to persist in the demands for more juridical safety, administrative improvement and for the refinement of the most unclear or inapplicable aspects of the current legislative framework.” Serrano finished his term reminding, as well, the importance of dialogue during his period in the presidency: “The frank, constant, constructive dialogue between those who do the research and those who administer the research system is the way to match the actions that are possible with the real necessities: both those needs that are urgent and those for the long term.”
The new president Maria A. Blasco reflects that society became, in the context of pandemic, more aware than ever about the relevant and inexcusable role of science in the resolution of the problems and challenges that may bring us new diseases or the growth or aging of the World population. "Perhaps this is the moment to open a new debate about the strengths and weaknesses of science policy in our country, empowering, as well, the various social actors in the area of science that develop a truly excellent job, with transcendental results for our society” declares new SOMMa president Blasco.