The Xunta opens the selection process for the scientific director of the Galtia foundation

The Department of Education, Science, Universities and Vocational Training has announced the position of scientific director of the Galician Public Foundation for High-Level Research Talent Galtia, a senior management position. The call is published in the Official Gazette of Galicia (DOG) no. 214, dated November 9, 2026, section IV (Oppositions and competitions), page 56241, by means of the Resolution of October 29, 2026, with the official reference CVE-DOG: kijfgmf9-xsd1-gkx4-zv73-gcggg5mk1435. The deadline for submitting applications is ten calendar days from the day following publication.

A scientific direction for a foundation under construction

The resolution is signed by Román Rodríguez González, Department Head of Education, Science, Universities and Vocational Training and president of the foundation, by virtue of the powers conferred by the statutes and in compliance with the personnel policy approved by the Board of Trustees. The functions of the position refer to article 28 of the statutes: establishing strategic research lines, coordinating and managing research personnel, promoting technological innovation, collaborating in strategic planning, and maintaining relations with other scientific institutions.

The objective of Galtia, according to its own bases, focuses on the promotion of research and the attraction and linking of highly qualified research personnel, based on criteria of excellence, merit, and impartiality, and in coordination with universities and scientific institutions, including in the international sphere.

The foundation has already filled its Management: by Resolution of October 26, 2026, published in DOG no. 210 on November 3, the process announced by the Resolution of June 18, 2026 (DOG no. 120, of June 30) was resolved in favor of Andrea Belén Pensado López, with a senior management employment contract effective from November 16, 2026.

Characteristics of the position

• Designation: Scientific Director of the Galician Public Foundation for High-Level Research Talent Galtia.
• Dependency: Presidency of the foundation.
• Location: Santiago de Compostela.
• Classification: management personnel, group III manager, level 1; senior management personnel type.
• Link: senior management employment contract in accordance with Royal Decree 1382/1985, Decree 119/2012, and Law 16/2010.
• Incompatibilities: regime of Law 53/1984.
• Appointment: corresponds to the Board of Trustees, upon proposal by the Presidency, according to article 27 of the statutes.

The specific requirement is mandatory: to be a professor (catedrático/a) at a public university. The guidelines justify this requirement as “a minimum and proportional requirement,” as it is the highest academic category existing in Spain, and add the need to prove recognized research quality and experience in public university management in CIGUS centers or equivalents.

Scale, application, and tribunal

The process consists of a single competition phase, with a maximum of 100 points, and requires a minimum of 70 to be eligible. The distribution is as follows:

• Recognized research quality: up to 60 points, with h-index (30), total citations (10), publications in Q1 (5), competitive funding as principal investigator (3), awards and distinctions (3), editorial or review work (3), supervised theses (3), and international plenary reports (3).
• Experience in public university management: up to 30 points.
• Knowledge transfer: up to 5 points.
• Institutional prestige and dialogue with CIGUS centers, rectorates, and state and European agencies: up to 5 points.

Applications are submitted electronically through the Xunta de Galicia headquarters with procedure code PR004A, at the department’s Registry in the Edificio Administrativo San Caetano, or in the registries provided for in Law 39/2015, with a scanned copy sent to the address galtia.educacion@xunta.gal. The tribunal, appointed by resolution of the Presidency, will have a president, three members, and a secretary, with parity between women and men in accordance with Law 7/2023; the provisional list of admitted and excluded candidates will open a three-working-day period for amendments.

Impact

The call confirms that Galtia is moving from the constitution phase to the staffing of its governing bodies, and does so with a profile reserved for full professors with a strong weight on the research curriculum (60 out of 100 points). For the Galician scientific ecosystem, the choice of the scientific director will condition the foundation’s talent acquisition strategy at a time when it is still organizing from the ground up, and the result will be published in the DOG.

Source: Official Gazette of Galicia, no. 214, November 9, 2026, section IV (Oppositions and competitions), p. 56241 (official reference: CVE-DOG: kijfgmf9-xsd1-gkx4-zv73-gcggg5mk1435).