Esperanza Aguirre's government plan to invest 300 million euros in opening ten institutes of science and technology in the region in their next term of office, if they win the regional elections in May 2007. The regional president made the announcement yesterday as she presented the Madrid Institute of Advanced Studies (IMDEA), which will coordinate the ten future centres.
The institutes will employ 200 researchers and will be located in the region's science and technology parks. The aim is for the institutes to work in the priority scientific fields, defined by the fourth Regional Science and Technology Plan as follows: water, energy, social sciences, applied mathematics, materials, freeware, nanotechnology, information and communication, and biomedicine.
According to Aguirre, the creation of these centres will have the support of Madrid's universities. She also explained that in particular they will benefit municipalities such as Leganés, Móstoles, Alcalá de Henares and Getafe, which will become known, she said, as "capitals of energy, environment or nanotechnology, making them strong centres of science and business".
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Link to original article: EL PAIS