Description of Organisation
The Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) is the National Agency for scientific development through funding of National Plans of Research, Development and Technological Innovation. These plans have a duration of four years with annual public and competitive calls which are peer-reviewed. The Marine Sciences form part of the Natural Resources Science and Technology area, and started having a specific programme on 1995. A total of 294 projects and special actions were funded on the 2000-2003 period, corresponding mainly to R&D Projects (175), followed by special actions (86) and co-funding of EU Projects (33). The total budget for the period was €14.99 million (€4 million / annum). Other related programmes are Polar Science (mainly marine research) and Aquaculture.
Marine RTD Funding Programme
The priorities topics of Marine RTD Programme are oceanography in the context of global change, marine ecosystem structure and energy fluxes, sustainable fisheries, integrated management of coastal zones, contamination and armful organisms, new and competitive marine technology. There is an annual periodic call published in BOE and the Ministry web in Spanish. Duration of research projects is three years. Evaluators are 4-6 anonymous relevant scientists for project and a parallel evaluation is done by the national Agency for Evaluation. Projects are finally approved by a panel coordinated by the MPM. MEC finances part of the international projects where Spanish researchers participate.
