
Public presentation of the Dossier on "Research and Innovation in Portugal and Spain"
What are the decisive factors in a country's research and innovation systems? What about the links between science and business? We present the new Dossier of the Social Observatory of the "la Caixa" Foundation.

Article
Human resources for research in Portugal and Spain
People who work in research are a pillar of the system. Are the working conditions of this sector favourable in Portugal and Spain or are they forcing a brain drain?

Article
Science-business links in Portugal and Spain: untapped potential for innovation?
In Portugal and Spain, only 6% of PhD holders work in the business sector. There is a broad margin for improvement in the relationship between science and business.

Article
Evolution of science and technology in Portugal and Spain
Research and innovation in Portugal and Spain have developed along parallel paths, albeit with some distinctive features.

Interview
“Research can’t be simply turned on and off like a tap; it requires investment in the long term”
Andrew W. Wyckoff, the OECD’s current director of Science, Technology and Innovation, reviews the major challenges posed by the digital transformation in the economic, social and educational sphere.

Review
The role of science and technology in the configuration of Portugal and Spain over the last five centuries
How has science developed in Portugal and Spain and how has it influenced the construction of the Iberian nations? The two books reviewed here analyse the subject.

Best Practices
Tools and resources for safeguarding ethics and improving integrity in scientific research
One of the great current challenges in research is process integrity and the reliability of results. What reforms are taking place in this area?

Best Practices
CaixaResearch Institute, a new health and life sciences research and innovation centre
International excellence, strong support for innovation and transfer and bringing science closer to society. CaixaResearch Institute symbolises the commitment of the ”la Caixa” Foundation to supporting biomedical research.

Best Practices
The Patient Innovation platform
Successful experiences such as the Patient Innovation Platform confirm that the future of innovation in health involves connecting patients, carers and other agents from the care sector.

Best Practices
The use of public engagement for technological innovation
What is society’s opinion regarding the possible impacts of science and technology? Establishing citizen participation mechanisms is necessary to generate confidence and detect points for improvement.

Best Practices
Changes in scientific assessment systems
How should science be evaluated? Does the possibility exist of using other criteria beyond bibliometric impacts, which value different facets of the social impact of research?

Best Practices
The Challenge-Driven Innovation programme
Challenge-Driven Innovation is a research funding programme that is pioneering in Europe due to its multidisciplinary, intersectoral and challenge-oriented focus.

Infodata
Direct (grants) and indirect (tax incentives) goverment support for business R&D
The model of governmental support for business R&D differs between Portugal and Spain, with a predominance of indirect support in Portugal`s case and direct support in that of Spain

Infodata
PhD qualifications by different branches of knowledge and by sex
While the participation of female PhD holders in Portugal is situated above the EU‑27 average in all fields of knowledge considered, in Spain the participation of female PhD holders is situated below the European average in the fields of art, humanities and social sciences.

Infodata
Innovative companies and business cooperation on R&D activities
In Portugal and Spain, the proportion of innovative companies, and the degree to which these collaborate with other companies and organisations, is below the EU-27 average

Infodata
Expenditure on R&D by sectors
In 2019, the percentage of total public spending assigned to R&D was 0.82% in Portugal and 1.24% in Spain, both below the EU-27 average.

Infodata
Patent applications submitted to the European Patents Office
Despite growth in the last 10 years, the relative position of Portugal and Spain, with regard to patent applications, is a long way behind that of countries that are leaders in innovation.

Infodata
Capacity for attracting international talent
Does Portugal attract more talent than Spain? In 2020, the attraction of international talent was situated above the European average (18.7%) in the case of Portugal (29.1%) and below the average (17.2%) in the case of Spain

Infodata
Women researchers by sectors
Portugal and Spain are situated above the European average in percentage of women researchers in all sectors considered, although the lowest participation corresponds to the business sector and the highest, to the governmental sector.

Infodata
Digital Economy and Society Index
Spain stands at the head of the countries of the EU-27 in the global computation of digital society indicators (connectivity, Internet use, etc). Portugal, however, is situated at the tail end.

Infodata
Authorship of scientific publications, by sex
Who publishes most: men or women? The percentage of women who publish in the STEM areas in Portugal and Spain is higher than the European average, which reflects how the proportion of women researchers in the academic sector exceeds, in turn, the European average.

Infodata
Women inventors
Who invents most: men or women? The proportion in Portugal is one out of every four and in Spain, one out of every fiver. Do they exceed the European average?

Infodata
Eco-Innovation Index
Portugal is in an intermediate situation in relation to the leading countries in environmental innovation, whereas Spain is among the leading countries.