Even as researchers pursue the dream of a unified European research network, at least one nation—Spain—is forging ahead on its own. In a bid to build 'networks of excellence', the Spanish health ministry last month announced its plan to link basic and clinical research projects. The ultimate goal, said minister Ana Pastor, is to bring “basic advances nearer [to] the clinic as soon as possible.”

The European Commission began networks of excellence, which must involve at least three centers from three countries, to overcome the fragmentation of European research. Inspired by the move, Spain last year became the first—and to date, the only—European country to mimic a similar plan. Spain's scheme, worth $57 million, brings together researchers from across the country's 17 autonomous regions.

The Madrid-based 'Instituto de Salud Carlos III' (ISC), the ministry's research agency, plans to fund 69 projects, linking 11,331 researchers in 290 centers. Each network comprises at least five centers and four regional communities, and will function as a 'node' so that the ISC can map the country's progress in biomedical research.

The ISC realized that networking was necessary when a 2001 survey revealed that more than 40% of biomedical research was done in single research units, says Antonio Campos, head of the agency. Creating national networks will also allow Spanish scientists to participate in Europe-wide projects through their networking with other European groups, he says.

Panels of national and foreign experts approved the projects, which must include at least one center or team with 'emerging potential'. This is the only way to prevent research funds from being devoured by prominent groups in big centers, says Campos.

Rare diseases are highly represented among the projects and are surpassed only by oncology, neurology and cardiovascular research. For instance, the network on mitochondrial diseases, funded at $280,000 a year for three years, gathers 81 researchers to perform clinical and epidemiological studies and to establish banks of tissue, fibroblasts, and DNA and RNA samples.