SRUK/CERU vision is to foster the development and improvement of the R&D system in Spain and the UK. To promote this vision there must be a fluid collaboration between scientific, social and political actors.
We seek new ways to establish effective collaborations between these sectors, drawing on the experiences of its members in Spanish and British research, international collaborations and scientific diplomacy at European level.
Brief history of our milestones
Our Science Policy Department was founded at the beginning of 2015. Its first director, Lorenzo Melchor, organised a committee who had the objective of producing a report with science policy recommendations aimed to influence the Spanish political parties. The resultant report was widely distributed amongst the political forces and gave an important visibility to our society in Spain.
The following director was Eduardo Oliver, who took the role in autumn of 2015. The committee devoted then a great effort to disseminate the science policy recommendations report. Due to this, several meetings could be held with representatives of Spanish political parties and organisations.
Emma Martínez Sánchez became the following director of the Science Policy Department in June of 2016. This was also the month when Brexit voting was held. Due to the UK´s decision to leave the EU, our committee added to its functions the role of defending the rights of our members during the Brexit negotiations. Several surveys were conducted, both in the UK and abroad, to evaluate how Brexit was perceived in time. In addition, our committee elaborated several journal articles in order to publicly defend the interests of the Spanish researchers.
Fidel Alfaro Almagro took the role of deputy director in autumn of 2017. During this time more surveys were conducted, and the interest in their results led to the participation of our society in call for evidences of the House of Commons. Written submissions were sent and our society was invited to take part in events and debates concerning Brexit. Several meetings were held with British entities such as the Russell Group, Universities UK and BEIS.