scientific policy

The current government delegate in Galicia, José Manuel Miñones Conde, will be the new Minister of Health, as announced on Monday by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, from La Moncloa. Miñones replaces Carolina Darias, head of the PSOE list in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the elections on 28 May. Sánchez has also announced that Héctor Gómez, former PSOE parliamentary spokesman, will be the new Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, replacing Reyes Maroto, the PSOE's candidate for mayor of Madrid.

In the midst of an energy, economic and geopolitical crisis, and still in a pandemic, the Climate Summit in Egypt (COP27) will kick off on 6 November with the challenge of bringing the climate fight to the forefront. We explain the main stumbling blocks, the unfinished business from the previous summit and the goals it has set itself.

The extraordinary plenary session of the Congress of Deputies today approved the reform of the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation. After being passed in the Lower House without any votes against it on 23 June, the bill was approved in the Senate on 20 July with an amendment referring to indefinite-term contracts, which was rejected today in Congress. 

The report Women Researchers 2022 highlights the fact that the presence of women in decision-making positions and in scientific and innovative leadership at the CSIC has increased. Among the shadows, the persistent under-representation of women researchers and the difficulty in achieving a gender balance in all scientific ranks, especially in research professorships.

Today the International Space Station (ISS) is completely dependent on Russia to keep it in orbit. Space X spacecraft, which NASA contracts, carry astronauts but cannot propel the ISS to maintain its altitude. A new American spacecraft, Cygnus, which has already conducted a successful propulsion test, is expected to be able to do so.

The Spanish Society of Public Health and Health Administration calls for the creation of an institution "that prepares us to protect the health of our population in the face of the current pandemic, future pandemics and current health challenges".