[Research grants in biology and basic medical sciences in Spain during the first third of the twentieth century]

We investigate the system of research grants in Spain during the first years of the twentieth century. In an initial phase, from 1900 to 1907, grants were awarded directly by the Public Instruction Ministery; their number was limited, the mechanism of selection was rigid, and control over the awardees was insufficient. From 1907 the organism in charge of managing the grants was the Board of Training and Scientific Research (Junta para la Ampliación de Estudios). The Junta raised the number of grants and made the mechanism of selection more flexible. Eighteen percent of the grants from the Junta were devoted to biomedical studies. Subjects of study were: physiology (35,18%), general biology (27-74%) and histology 18,38%). The country most preferred by awardees in the biomedical sciences was Germany (30,99%), followed by France and Switzerland.