The great promise of this new ‘Science Law’ is to create a new regulatory framework for improve the working conditions of researchers Spanish people. To this end, one of the measures proposed in this draft is the creation of new hiring modalities. The first, and surely one of the most anticipated by a scientific community accustomed to chaining short and precarious contracts for years, will be the scientific-technical contracts, of an indefinite nature and that will not form part of the Public Employment Offer. There is also the creation of a new postdoctoral itineraryinspired by the Anglo-Saxon model of ‘tenure track’, by a minimum of three and a maximum of six years to which both professionals trained here and abroad will be able to access. The new legal framework also contemplates the figure of the ‘distinguished researcher‘, for both Spanish and foreign scientists.
The final document has been approved by the Council of Ministers incorporates one of the labor petitions that unions and scientific societies had put on the table: the right to compensation after the end of the contract (equivalent to 12 days per year worked) will apply to both new hires and scientists contracted before the entry into force of this law. Until now, since a large part of the scientific contracts were of a temporary nature, the researchers did not have the right to compensation.