The same man in charge for decades: the 'monarchy' of elite science centers

Some of the most avant-garde scientific centers in Spain are governed by a paradoxically very old system: the same man in charge for decades. Doctor Bonaventura Clotet has directed the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute since its creation 29 years ago in Badalona. The physicist Pedro Miguel Echenique has presided over the Donostia International Physics Center since day one, a quarter of a century ago. Chemist Eugenio Coronado has governed the Institute of Molecular Science of Valencia since its opening 24 years ago. And they are not exceptions. Some of the most innovative centers have reinvented a kind of monarchy.

Chemist Laura Lechuga, 61, remembers that many of these centers were created at the edge of the 21st century, with prestigious scientists at the helm. “The problem is that they never considered the length of the term of office of the same director. This has given rise to the fact that, in practice, there is never a change of director and the majority of them remain in the position between 15 and 20 years, even 30 years,” reflects Lechuga, group leader at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. , in Barcelona. “The worst effect of these eternal mandates is that there are no women directors. I would say that only 1% or 2% of these centers are or have been run by a woman. In the XXI century. “It’s incredible,” laments the chemist, winner of the National Research Award in 2020.

The data is revealing. Three years ago, the biologist Marga Nadal was the only female director of the 41 Research Centers of Catalonia (CERCA), the bodies of excellence of the Generalitat. She was the 2%. Nadal, in charge of the Girona Biomedical Research Institute, explains that these centers are governed by boards of trustees, made up of politicians and senior officials from hospitals and universities. They are the ones who choose the director. “They can fire me tomorrow or they can fire me in 20 years, it’s like that,” Nadal summarizes, in favor of establishing four or five year terms, renewable for as many. “Being there for more than 10 years is bad. And staying for more than three years can also be bad. If you don’t have a project, go home. You should go, not wait for them to kick you out,” she says.

The physicist Lluís Torner explains that he alone founded the now leading Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), in the Barcelona town of Castelldefels, in 2002. He has been in charge for 22 years, but he believes that “it should not last forever” and asked months ago its replacement. “I started alone. The ICFO had only one person. I was the director and I directed myself. And now we are 450″, he celebrates. Torner rejects indefinite positions, but supports long terms in centers under construction, even 30 years if there are periodic evaluations, as has happened in his case every four years. “As an example and without wanting to compare it, it is as if Columbus’s expedition went to Cuba and they changed the commander in the Azores. What the Greeks did, if his general did not work in the battles against the Persians, was to liquidate him upon his return to Athens, but not along the way,” he argues. The physicist Oriol Romero-Isart, 42, will be the new director as of September 1, as confirmed by Torner.

The physicist Lluís Torner, in the front row with a blue tie, with his team from the Institute of Photonic Sciences, in Castelldefels, in 2014.ICFO

Some of the latest changes in these centers of excellence show the perpetuation in positions. Civil engineer Eugenio Oñate left the direction of the International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering in Barcelona in 2022, after 35 years at the helm. Doctor Lluís Blanch is awaiting his replacement at the Parc Taulí Research and Innovation Institute, in Sabadell, after 21 years as director. The vast majority of eternal leaders are men, but there are exceptions. Geographer Anna Cabré directed the Barcelona Center for Demographic Studies for 30 years, since its creation in 1984. “We now have seven directors in 42 centers [el 17%]. We have worked hard to get more women to apply for applications,” explain the same CERCA sources.

Three years ago, biologist Emilio Palomares took the reins of the Catalan Institute for Chemical Research, in Tarragona, to “make a 180 degree turn”, after two decades under the command of Miquel Pericàs, its founder. Palomares warns of the risk of eternal leadership. “When you have been in a management position for a long time, you end up thinking that everything has been thanks to you and you become a bitch. It happens in scientific centers just as it does in politics or business. He is human,” reflects Palomares, who has promised in writing to serve a maximum of two five-year terms.

We must avoid excessive personalism that could harm the institution.

Carmen Vela, former Secretary of State for R&D&I

One of the best-known perpetual leaders is Paco Sánchez, founder of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands in 1975 and its director for 38 years. The biochemist Carmen Vela, responsible for science in the Government of Mariano Rajoy, made the decision to look for a replacement. “We promoted a change, because it was no longer that Paco had been around all his life, it was that he was the telescope,” she recalls. Vela invites us not to make unfair judgments. “In some cases we have to avoid excessive personalism that could harm the institution, but, in most of the cases that I know of, the director and institution binomial is working extraordinarily well,” she believes.

Engineer Mateo Valero has directed the Barcelona Supercomputing Center since its creation 20 years ago. Cardiologist Valentín Fuster has been leading the National Cardiovascular Research Center in Madrid for 15 years. Vela, former president of the Association of Women Researchers and Technologists, affirms that there are scientists “well prepared” to occupy the directorships of this type of institutes, but she believes that the inevitable generational change should not be forced. “These centers are excellent, they are international benchmarks. I think of Pedro Miguel Echenique, Mateo Valero, Valentín Fuster, Lluís Torner… They are people so absolutely out of the ordinary, bordering on exceptionality, that I don’t think we should intervene, but I would put this issue on the table for them to consider. . “I wouldn’t be too interventionist,” says Vela.

Doctor Anthony Fauci received an ovation upon his retirement, after 38 years at the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in Bethesda (USA).NIH (LK PHOTOS)

Asked if it is considering limiting the mandates of the directors, the Ministry of Science, headed by Diana Morant, limits itself to answering that, in addition to the duration, we must take into account the quality of the research and “the results based on the set objectives.” A spokesperson for the Catalan ministry explains that there are no regulatory changes in sight. “The Science Law of Catalonia, in force since last year, does not establish mandate limitations in the directorates of the CERCA centers participated by the Generalitat. The guidelines correspond to the boards of trustees or governing councils of each center,” she emphasizes. The images are eloquent. Six research centers of excellence formed The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology in 2015 to promote a common project. The 20 prestigious members of its board were men. Almost a decade later, there are 19 men and three women.

In 1981, the doctor Bonaventura Clotet coincided with the first case of AIDS described in Spain and decided to dedicate his life to this disease, which since then has killed more than 40 million people in the world. “This started as a personal project. I managed to convince the Generalitat and, with the help of the “la Caixa” Foundation, we set up the first retrovirus laboratory that existed in Catalonia. We started with four people and now we are 120,” recalls the expert, who has directed the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute since 1995, receiving periodic audits. “We are continually evaluated and this is non-negotiable. “No one has to be housed forever,” he points out.

Can you be a director for so long without creating bad habits and bad practices?

Laura Lechuga, chemist

Clotet emphasizes that the situation is similar in organizations in other countries. The famous American doctor Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years, resigned in 2022, recalling that he had worked for seven presidents, from Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden. In Clotet’s opinion, the essential thing in a director is to offer ideas, give “absolute independence” to his researchers and promote the best, maintaining gender parity. In IrsiCaixa, he affirms, there are 60% women.

“The internal management of a large team requires a leader. This is like soccer coaches of very good teams: the most complicated problem is managing egos,” he says. “We are the most important group in Spain in infectious disease and immunology research. I think the project has been very useful for the country. When I can’t contribute anything, I won’t continue,” argues Clotet, who after 29 years as director continues “with strength and energy.”

Examples are found throughout Spain. The microbiologist Eugenio Santos has just left the direction of the Salamanca Cancer Research Center, after 25 years in power. The chemist José María Mato has directed the Cooperative Research Center in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE) since its creation 19 years ago in Greater Bilbao. Physicist Rodolfo Miranda has been in charge of the Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies in Nanoscience for 17 years. Biochemist Maria Lois, director of the Agrigenomics Research Center for just two years, believes that “a plan of support measures during management and after leaving it” would make the position more attractive, increase applications and facilitate exits. “And the more rotation, the greater diversity,” she says.

Chemist Laura Lechuga highlights that management mandates at the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) last four years and can be renewed. University rectors can stay for a maximum of six years, non-extendable. “No matter how good scientists and managers have been selected for the management position, can you be a director for so long without creating bad habits and bad practices?” asks Lechuga, also a CSIC researcher. “This usually leads, clearly, to very unhealthy dynamics within the centers, ultimately becoming true kingdoms or beach bars of the director on duty. Given the power that these directors accumulate, they can manage, according to their sole criteria, million-dollar budgets, the distribution of spaces, positions, layoffs, infrastructure,” says the chemist.

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