Trainees demand worker status

Three thousand trainee research-ers converged on Madrid last month to deliver a list of complaints to the Spanish government.

They claim that while they are officially classified as students, their labour underpins the Spanish research system. The trainees have founded a National Federation of Precarious Trainees to press their case. Their demands include access to social security benefits and an explicit definition of rights and conditions for young scientists in training.

Jordi Frigola, 26, began preparing his doctorate on the genetics of cancer of the colon at the Cancer Research Institute in Barcelona in January last year. Previously, he spent seven years studying for degrees in biology and biochemistry. He now works a 12-hour day, five days a week, for a grant of €750 per month (£468).

As a PhD student in receipt of a grant, he has no right to sick pay, health cover, paternity leave or pension contributions. But he does have to pay tax on his grant.

"When it comes to paying taxes, we are classed as workers, but when it comes to receiving benefits, we are students," he said.

He estimates there must be about 40,000 people in his situation in Spain.

Frigola is dismayed at these conditions, but thinks the real problem is the lack of a defined career track for researchers. The 1980s saw a big expansion of Spain's research capacity, but investment, and thus job opportunities, have since stagnated. Spanish industry is notoriously reluctant to take on scientists and spends less on research and development than other European countries.

Mr Frigola questions the logic of spending state money on training people without investing enough in the rest of the research system to enable young scientists to make a productive contribution.

Toni Gabald"n's grant will end soon after he completes four years at the University of Valencia. He expects to be writing up his thesis with no financial support. If he manages this, the next step is to apply for a postdoctoral grant, which typically consists of two years' work at a research centre overseas -Spanish research centres have few placements for post-docs. After this, a researcher should be ready to apply for a permanent post in Spain, but these are few and far between.

Mr Gabald"n believes the problems are caused by malfunctions in the system. Spanish universities and research centres employ few technicians so trainees do much of the routine lab work. "In Spain, the size of a research project is calculated according to the number of trainees. It is not the lecturers' fault, they just don't have the money to take on staff," he said.

"The research pyramid has a broad base, which is we trainees, but when you get near the top there is a bottleneck."