Two scientists with ties to Mallorca have almost simultaneously received some of the most prestigious scientific grants in the US and Europe. But instead of talking only about their personal success, they are increasingly returning to one question: why are the Balearic Islands still not fully utilizing their scientific potential?
Lluís Morey Ramonell serà un dels referents científics de les Balears aquesta próxima dècada. És nebot meu. @lluismorey Dos científicos mallorquines de élite destacan el potencial de Baleares "para ser un referente" diariodemallorca.es/mallorca/2026/… a través de @diariomallorca
Molecular biologist Lluís Morey, working at the University of Miami, received major funding in 2026 from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). His research focuses on the epigenetic mechanisms of diseases, including why some breast tumors become resistant to treatment.
Another native of the Balearic Islands, oncologist Toni Celià-Terrassa, received this year an ERC Advanced Grant — one of the European Union's most prestigious research programs.
His project, PLASTWIRE, is scheduled for five years and has received funding of 2,5 million euros. The scientists will investigate whether mRNA-based technologies can be used to alter the properties of tumor cells so that the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy them.
Against the backdrop of these achievements, the contrast with the situation in the Balearics themselves is particularly noticeable.
According to the latest official data, the region allocated about 0,4% of its GDPto internal research and development. For comparison, the average for Spain was about 1,5%.
In other words, individual researchers and groups from the islands are capable of competing at the highest international level, while the regional scientific system itself remains relatively small.
At the same time, a scientific base already exists in the Balearics.
The University of the Balearic Islands, the IdISBa Health Research Institute, the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA), and the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems (IFISC) all operate here. In certain fields, their teams hold a serious international reputation.
The problem, according to the researchers, is not just about the amount of money.
A long-term strategy is needed: to identify the areas in which the islands can truly become competitive, to create conditions for attracting specialists, and to ensure the stability of scientific policy regardless of changes in government.
Morey has repeatedly spoken about his connection to Mallorca and his desire to one day participate more actively in the development of science in his homeland. One possible path is the creation of a network of researchers connected to the islands who are currently working at leading institutions in various countries.
Such a network could help establish international contacts, launch joint projects, and bring back to the Balearics not just individual scientists, but also knowledge, technologies, and scientific connections.
Celià-Terrassa emphasizes something else: large research systems cannot be built within a single political cycle.
Science needs continuity.
Laboratories, research centers, and scientific schools are formed over years. Therefore, a short-term budget increase is insufficient if it is not backed by a clear strategy for ten or twenty years.
For the Balearic Islands, this is especially important.
The archipelago's economy largely depends on tourism and the service sector, so the development of biomedicine, biotechnology, marine sciences, or other high-tech industries could become an additional way to diversify the economy.
This is not necessarily about building large factories.
Modern science creates laboratories, startups, patents, medical technologies, and highly skilled jobs. One strong research center is capable of gradually forming an entire ecosystem around itself.
Even the island location is no longer the obstacle it was several decades ago. International scientific groups work remotely on a constant basis, exchanging data and personnel, and researchers regularly move between laboratories in different countries.
At the same time, Mallorca has an advantage that is difficult to achieve through investment alone — the attractiveness of the place itself.
According to the scientists, foreign colleagues often ask a simple question: if there is a university, talented researchers, infrastructure, and quality of life here, why not create a major international scientific center on the island?
The stories of Morey and Celià-Terrassa reveal a curious paradox.
To see Mallorca's potential as a scientific hub, some of its researchers first had to achieve recognition far beyond the island.
Now their international reputation can play a different role — helping to build a bridge between global science and the region from which they came.
And perhaps the main question is no longer whether Mallorca can become a notable point on the scientific map of Europe.
Rather, it is a question of whether it is prepared to create the conditions for this.
