Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)

Spain

The CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) is the largest and leading public research institution in Spain and the third in Europe due to the quality and quantity of its scientific production. It plays an essential role within the Spanish System for Science, Technology and Innovation and contributes to reinforce Spain’s position at the international level.

CSIC’s main aim is to develop and promote scientific studies to contribute to foster scientific and technological progress. CSIC's mission includes: 1) multidisciplinary scientific and technical research; 2) scientific and technical advice; 3) transferring results to the private sector; 4) contributing to the creation of technology-driven companies; 5) training specialised personnel; 6) management of infrastructure and large facilities; 7) promoting scientific culture. The CSIC is multidisciplinary, carrying out research in almost all fields of knowledge. Its activities encompass basic research all the way through to technological development.

The CSIC is present in all the autonomous regions through their centres across Spain. It comprises 120 centres spread across Spain, and is also present in Brussels and Rome. It is formed by employees with a wide range of academic qualifications and professional categories. The CSIC employs 11,000 people, of which 3.000 are researchers. In total, they represent the 6% of Spain’s R&D workforce and generate approximately the 20% of the country’s production. Likewise, the CSIC collaborates with other juridical entities such as consortia and trading companies.

1 April 2019 - 31 March 2020

Region: Global
Subject/journal group: All

The table to the right includes counts of all research outputs for Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) published between 1 April 2019 - 31 March 2020 which are tracked by the Nature Index.

Hover over the donut graph to view the FC output for each subject. Below, the same research outputs are grouped by subject. Click on the subject to drill-down into a list of articles organized by journal, and then by title.

Note: Articles may be assigned to more than one subject area.

Count	Share
1213	206.81

Outputs by subject (Share)

Subject	Count	Share
Earth & Environmental Sciences	145	32.34
Life Sciences	358	62.71
Physical Sciences	597	81.87
ACS Nano	20	3.43
Advanced Functional Materials	15	3.18
Advanced Materials	6	1.92
Applied Physics Letters	13	2.94
Astronomy & Astrophysics	9	1.95
European Physical Journal C	93	9.89
Journal of High Energy Physics	166	22.60
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters	12	0.82
Nano Letters	22	3.86
Nature	13	1.37
Nature Communications	31	6.21
Nature Materials	5	1.01
Nature Nanotechnology	2	0.14
Nature Physics	1	0.11
Physical Review A	1	0.13
Physical Review B	9	1.06
Physical Review D	10	0.73
Physical Review Letters	98	11.94
Physical Review X	4	1.09
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America	7	1.09
Science	9	1.13
Science Advances	3	1.07
The Astrophysical Journal Letters	48	4.21
Chemistry	246	55.97

Highlight of the month

Climate cracked Easter Island before conflict

The collapse of the Rapa Nui (Easter Island) society may have been more closely linked to climate change than conflict.

Possible reasons for the infamous decline of Easter Island’s indigenous people range from brutal conflicts with European invaders to unchecked population growth that exhausted the island’s ecological resources.

A team that included researchers from the Spanish National Research Council determined past human energy consumption on the island from archaeological data. By using human energy consumption as a proxy for population size, they then modelled population trends against changes in vegetation cover and climate since the island was colonized nearly 1,000 years ago.

Their results suggest population decline set in before foreign settlers arrived and was due to droughts putting strain on food production.

Understanding the effects of past climate change on sensitive societies could help such populations better prepare for their own sustainability challenges.

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