Page 4 - MEMOCibersam014-ENG

Letter from the Scientific Director
Dr. Celso Arango.
Scientific Director, CIBERSAM
In the olden days, baskets were primarily made of canes, which were taken from river willows . In order to not end production, harvesters had to make sure that they took good care of those willows, such that the quality of the baskets improved over the years . Finally, and as years went by, the willows were no longer ca- red for, were not pruned every year and were damaged by droughts . At first, this resulted in baskets having worse quality, and ultimately they disappeared . The wise Spanish proverb, which is virtually now obsolete, states that “Con estos mimbres no se puede hacer más que este cesto”, which literally means that with these canes, all that can be made is this basket . In the same way, this CIBER has excellent canes which, as a result of the structure of the CIBER, allows being integrated in a common project common with a result that none of them would have achieved on their own . Despite the lack of water and lack of interest of those who should have cared for it, alternatives are sought year after year which allows maintaining productivity and end product quality . However, like everything in life, there is a limit and the preparation, motivation, international impact and excellence of its groups end up needing a nutritive medium so as not to perish while making the effort .
Unquestionably, our centre is turning into a structure that is increasingly more competitive at the interna- tional level, drawing the interest of private industry to enable safely and efficiently carrying out some of its projects with the quality assurance offered by a centre with annual evaluations and which is under national and international scrutiny . However, imposed management difficulties (hiring of researchers, for example) only contribute to increasing the burden given the funding cuts over the years .
The last four years of work of all the CIBER subject areas, and therefore the Mental Health subject area, has been evaluated this year . While awaiting the results, all the researchers in this CIBER should be proud of the work they have done under this innovative research structure . It is easy to make out a before an after in the collaborative and translational research culture in neurosciences and mental health in our country . In 2014, like every year since its creation, this CIBER conducted an annual evaluation of each of the groups . This comprehensive evaluation, which I believe should be extended to other public research structures in order to break away from the highly bureaucratic research that is so typical of us and causes so much harm to this country, results in a more efficient distribution of the resources available for research of excellence . Our research proves that synaptic pruning results in better-prepared functional circuits . An example of translation consists of applying that knowledge to the management team of our CIBER and discontinuing those groups that have lost their working capacity, so that other new, up and coming groups can grow and provide added value to the CIBER . Research groups inside and outside this CIBER are dynamic groups with varying research quality over the years . We believe that a Centre receiving public funding cannot have groups outside the institution which are better than groups inside it . One of the greatest strengths of this Centre is that it is a dynamic structure which can and must adapt to internal and external changes by means of transparent and objective evaluation mechanisms . There is no system more inefficient than one that allows those joining an institution to remain in said institution regardless of their effort, ability and results . This ancient, outdated and inefficient system that has been with us for so long must finally be put to rest . In 2015 we will be incorporating two new groups in the CIBER that will most definitely contribute to reinfor- cing and enriching it . We can thereby meet one of the objectives laid out in our 2014-2016 strategic plan . In following with this line of action, we decided to change a third of the head positions within the CIBER every year, making it more dynamic . In brain research this is referred to as plasticity . Also, Dr . Eduard Vieta, who
4 CIBERSAM » Annual report 2014