The objective of the Augusto González Linares (AGL) Programme is to attract groups to Cantabria who will develop strategic research and transfer lines which have still not been covered by the science and technology system in the Community, or who will strengthen existing lines. The programme establishes a procedure which guarantees the strategic value of the proposals. It foresees the previous selection of projects whose impact on CCI contexts is relevant, for research as well as for knowledge transfer. Besides, it guarantees to attract researchers or technologists of the highest degree with a capacity to head those projects by means of an international competitive official announcement, based on criteria of excellence, efficiency, equity, merit and capability.
Incorporation of the researcher and his team will take place through an initial 3-year contract, after which time they will be assessed for their scientific activity, achievements and their capacity for self-funding. If the assessment is positive, they will be offered an indefinite work contract.
Three posts were announced for the first edition of the programme, in the areas of “Water and Energy”, “Biomedicine and Biotechnology” and “Language and Heritage”. In total, 109 applications were received, 67 international applications and 42 national applications. The three projects which were chosen were published on February 7th, 2011. These were “Research into Environmental Hydraulics” by Giovanni Coco; “Microbic biotechnology and its industrial applications in biomedicine; the development of products of interest for our health, especially medication and other applications” by Hrvoue Petkovic and “Academic Discourse in the area of Spanish as a Foreign Language” by Kim Griffin.
The second edition of the programmed, announced in 2011, was restricted to researchers in the Higher Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), relating to three areas of knowledge: Astrophysics, Nanomaterials and Prehistory.
This action-line is complemented with the “Ramón y Cajal” Programme in the Dept. of Science and Innovation, whose objective is to award grants for a period of 5 years to contract Doctorates. The grants or aids are intended to co-finance the cost of contracting staff and to set up research activities of the contracted researcher. In the 2010 programme, 2 RyC contracts were signed, one of them obtained through the offer which was made public to attract this type of researchers: Alberto Sánchez was incorporated in IBBTEC in the area of the Molecular Biology of Cancer.