Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 218: Chapter 155: The Weight of the Invitation (3)

The middle-aged man who spoke first nodded with no surprise, a helpless smile appearing on his face: “Buddy, it seems we’re heading to Spain together.”

Manuel was taken aback, looking at his friend, who was also his fellow disciple, and asked with some surprise: “You’re going to Spain too, Egas?”

Egas nodded, saying: “Actually, I don’t want to leave Portugal either. But there’s no choice; the offer from Spain is too generous. Vice President of Zaragoza Medical College, Second-level Academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Senior Expert of the Royal Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine – who could refuse that?”

Manuel was stunned, looking at his friend with some surprise.

“What’s the matter?” Egas was somewhat surprised. Why was his friend suddenly showing such an expression?

“Spain offered me the same conditions: Second-level Academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Senior Expert of the Royal Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine, but my work is at the Royal Medical College, also as Vice President.” Manuel shook his head, smiling bitterly.

Egas was also taken aback and finally blurted out: “It seems His Majesty the King of Spain is serious about recruiting talent this time. But really, who could refuse such generous terms?”

Indeed, the conditions offered to Manuel and Egas were personally promised by Carlo. The two came from the same school, with their teacher being the famous Portuguese medical expert, Bernardino Antonio Gomez.

As Portugal’s first dermatologist, Bernardino Antonio Gomez once served the Portuguese Royal Family and had been working on typhoid and infectious diseases for many years.

During his years between Portugal and Brazil, he published many reports on plant morphology and medicinal properties, as well as the incidence and treatment methods of infectious diseases, earning high esteem in the Portuguese medical community.

His two disciples, Manuel and Egas, also earned their doctorates in medicine early on and held key positions in private hospitals in Portugal.

Unfortunately, although this private hospital was relatively large, it was also affected by the economic crisis.

There were many scientists with similar experiences to Manuel and Egas, who were also on Spain’s list for talent recruitment.

To ensure these talents feel sufficiently respected, Spain would issue invitations in the name of the Royal Family and the Royal Academy of Sciences, inviting these famous scientists and talents to work at various universities and to hold positions as academicians at the Royal Academy of Sciences and other positions.

Apart from an invitation issued in Carlo’s name, a detailed list of various positions, salaries, and benefits was attached to the invitation.

Just being a Second-level Academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences already came with a high income. Let alone holding important positions at various universities as the main work, where the income was even higher than what these scientists earned in their original jobs.

More importantly, with the identity of an Academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences, they could use the large laboratories of the Royal Academy of Sciences and have their research funds.

If they did not like competing with other academicians for large laboratory time, they could also use the research facilities of the universities where they held positions, thanks to their roles there.

Once they advanced to the Third-level Academician, they would have the right to establish their own laboratory. This was the most attractive part for those talents, as who wouldn’t want to have their own lab to conduct unrestricted research without worrying about funding?

Of course, the Royal Academy of Sciences would review all research projects submitted by academicians to ensure only useful projects were researched.

Some particularly important projects could even benefit from unlimited research funds, as long as all funds were used appropriately.

If a scientist pocketed all the research funds, the Royal Academy of Sciences surely wouldn’t stand for it.

Carlo formed the Royal Academy of Sciences to provide labs and research funds for capable scientists to aid their experiments, not for those driven solely by selfish motives, falsifying research results, or misappropriating research funds.

The recruitment actions by Spain to attract talent were quite smooth. Not to mention, the approach of offering both fame and fortune was indeed appealing enough.

Within a month of sending the invitations, hundreds of responses had already been received, most of which were from those willing to come to Spain.

Of course, not all these people could hold important positions. Many of the ordinary talents ended up as First-level Academicians of the Royal Academy of Sciences, professors at some universities, or couldn’t even qualify to enter the Royal Academy of Sciences.

Carlo naturally accepted all these talents. Even if some were not highly capable, they possessed certain theoretical knowledge and could undoubtedly be professors at universities.

After all, those excellent scientists mainly focused on their research, having little time to cultivate new talents.

Although some invitations were declined, the responses from those scientists were quite polite, still showing respect to Carlo and the Spanish Government.

After all, recognition from a country’s king and government is, in itself, a way to prove one’s capability, even if a collaboration cannot be established.

In fact, having an invitation stamped with the Spanish Royal Family badge could even become a status symbol. Being invited or not marks the degree of recognition one has received from Spain.

Scientists not recognized implicitly lack capability, frankly speaking.

It was precisely for this reason that even the scientists who declined the invitation were courteous in their responses. Some people even kept the invitation as if it were an award certificate.