Revision as of 12:17, 13 October 2015

Ramón y Cajal program

The Ramón y Cajal (RyC) program is a five-year position as a principal investigator in the Spanish scientific system. It used to be the counterpart of a tenure track in the sense that a permanent position is opened and synced with the RyC contract. It has recently been turned down officially to a 5 year mere post-doctoral position for a miserable salary and a shameful status in the Spanish university ladder.

It used to be widely regarded as one of the best position for young researchers in Spain. Even then, it was already noted for various shortcomings:

• The Angst of Ramón y Cajal Researchers, an article by Elisabeth Pain in Science.
• The RyC program, a presentation by Juan de la Figuera.

It is a now a sieve that retains mainly those disposed to ruin their Scientific career despite their potential—the grant remaining extremely competitive—by favoring this crippling contract and conditions despite all its fatal flaws.

Fabrice got awarded his position on 28, June (2011) for which I started working on 1 June (2012).

Elena got awarded a position on 6 May (2013) and took it up on 15 December (2014).

See also

• Antonio Fernández Domínguez and Elena del Valle's open letter Sobre "El mejor físico europeo joven se queda sin beca en España".