“The coronavirus is being optimized to transmit better”

By 02/05/2021 Portal

The virologist Rafael Sanjuan, 43-year-old Valencian, has just received almost 2.5 million euros of the EU to investigate dangerous viruses, hidden in wild animals and capable of making the jump to humans. The question is not if it will happen again, but when. A group of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in September 2019 that humanity should prepare for the worst: a pandemic of a lethal respiratory pathogen. Three months later, the new coronavirus was identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has already killed more than three million people. The 2019 report warned of the “very real” possibility of a virus appearing that kill 80 million.

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“Quality must be rewarded, but in Spain quantity is highly rewarded”

The virologist Rafael Sanjuán is part of the European scientific elite, but his merits are not enough for the guardian of the Spanish university, the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA). Sanjuán has achieved almost six million euros in aid from the European Research Council for cutting-edge projects, but his work is not first class according to ANECA criteria. “In research I don't reach the A category of professor, only the B, because they ask you for quantity: about 120 articles. But having 120 articles as the main author in the journal 'Science' is not the same as having 120 articles as a third author in a scientific journal that has nothing to do with 'Science'. The difference is abysmal,” he explains.
Seven researchers with million-dollar European aid have reported similar situations on the pages of EL PAÍS. They succeed in the scientific elite of the continent, but are rejected by ANECA to be full professors or professors, due to rigid requirements such as the accumulation of hours of teaching or research by weight. Sanjuán believes that this system is defective: “I do not reach the 1,400 hours of class that are required of me to be accredited to be a professor. "We must reward quality, but in Spain quantity is highly rewarded."