Madrid, February 25 – The Community of Madrid has launched a new program, ‘Lánzate’, with an initial investment of nearly one million euros, aimed at attracting and retaining emerging research talent within its public healthcare system. The program, announced today with the publication of its first call for applications in the Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid, seeks to enable healthcare professionals to combine clinical practice with scientific research.
Boosting Research in Public Health
The ‘Lánzate’ program is designed to foster both clinical and scientific careers simultaneously for professionals within the Madrid Health Service (Sermas). According to the regional Ministry of Health, the initiative targets “emerging” research talent in public hospitals, primary care centers, health research institutes, and biomedical research foundations.
Fátima Matute, the Minister of Health, stated, “Lánzate will allow emerging researchers from public hospitals, primary care, health research institutes, and biomedical research foundations to develop their projects.” The program emphasizes reducing bureaucracy to facilitate agile, rapid, and effective project development, serving as a “springboard” for researchers to advance their work and ultimately improve public health.
Program Details and Funding
Projects supported by the ‘Lánzate’ program will have a maximum duration of two years. The allocated grants will cover expenses such as equipment, consumable materials, supplies, and intellectual or industrial property rights. The initial call for applications makes nearly one million euros available for these research and development projects.
The program features four distinct modalities. Two general categories are open to professionals from hospitals, health centers, foundations, and research institutes. One of these is specifically for researchers under 45 years of age, while the other targets professionals developing a competitive program to obtain the R3 certificate of research quality and independence.
Significantly, two additional modalities are exclusively reserved for primary care and nursing professionals. This highlights the Ministry of Health’s commitment to strengthening research in these specific areas, a point emphasized by Minister Matute in previous statements. She noted that “nursing research is already a reality” and that there is a focus on primary care, marking a shift from previous approaches that primarily concentrated on research institutes or hospitals.
Wider Initiatives for Biomedical Research
The launch of the ‘Lánzate’ program coincides with a unanimous decision by the Madrid City Council. On Tuesday, all four political groups (PP, Más Madrid, PSOE, and Vox) approved a proposal by Vox to establish a specific line of aid for biomedical research. This city-level initiative will particularly focus on research into pancreatic cancer and will promote a strategy to encourage scientific patronage within the capital.
These combined efforts underscore a growing commitment from both regional and municipal authorities in Madrid to bolster scientific research, particularly within the healthcare sector, aiming to attract top talent and foster innovation for the benefit of public health.
