Sofía
in the
Nordic Countries

After a lot of hard work, here I am with good news about my professional career – I’ve been accepted to begin researching in one of the centres of the Superior Council of Scientific Research – CSIC! And I’ve decided to celebrate by participating in FameLab, an unusual initiative for scientific dissemination.

The Canary Islands are home to the European Northern Observatory, involving over sixty institutions from nineteen countries, thanks to the Agreement and Protocol on Cooperation in Astrophysics. Jonas and I went to visit it and we saw at first hand how cooperation for development is one of Spain’s primary objectives.

Foreign researchers and students find Spain to be one of the most attractive countries in the European Union thanks to its participation in international promotion programmes and the grants that it offers for the development of Science and Innovation. That is how a Norwegian friend I met when I was on the exchange programme has found a job as a researcher in Spain.

Associations of Spanish scientists meet the need of researchers working abroad to promote the role of science, technology and their professionals in our society. Its members don’t only disseminate the important work carried out by the Spanish science and technology professional community abroad, they also have the chance to broaden their professional career opportunities, move to other countries more easily and integrate into the local community in the country where they live.

Spanish science is spreading to various sectors, united by the same goal: to make science acquire an increasingly greater importance in its economy and society.

I’m in Spain again! And I’m back to tell you about this new stage in my life. I’ve made friends from all over the world who I share interests with, I’ve received very stimulating training and I’ve discovered the beauty of the Nordic countries…

Spanish scientists of worldwide renown is quite high. Many of them have moved from their hometowns and meet at associations of Spanish researchers abroad. Being in the north of Europe, I wanted to make sure I got to know some of them, so few weeks ago Hakon and I packed our rucksacks and visited the Association of Spanish Scientists in Sweden.

My colleague Alex told me of his desire to further his career as a researcher in Spain. I’m trying to help him as much as I can, and searching for exchange programmes for scientists in our country I came across exactly what I was looking for! A guide that compiles all the information that foreign investigators interested in carrying out research in Spain require.

Last week I’ve been completely immersed in health sciences as the university held a biomedical research conference attended by experts and by Heikki, a young doctor specialised in transplants whom I met. In fact, the area of transplants is one of the most outstanding in the Spanish health system, which triggered my conversation with my new friend.

The classes are proving very interesting and, above all, participatory — it’s as if we were all learning from one another. Our teacher surprised us with a game in which we established a ranking of the most cutting-edge companies in each country. My colleagues and I have started to fantasising about working together on an international project!

Hakon invited us to spend the weekend in Oslo, his hometown. I’m really pleased at having visited such a beautiful city, and at having met his family, all the members of which are scientists! They very kindly prepared dinner for us and conversations were really interesting, specially those about Spain technological sectors. It was a very rewarding experience.