The profound political, economic and social changes that took place in the world, and especially in Europe, coinciding with the turn of the century led to an organizational movement in the Spanish scientific class, convinced of the growing influence that science was acquiring in the reality that was taking shape. It was therefore essential to have an entity capable of channeling the initiatives of scientific societies and representing science before society and the public authorities. As a result of these concerns, and after several meetings in which a broad consensus was reached, in October 2003 a founding act was held with the participation of 42 scientific societies, in which the Confederation of Spanish Scientific Societies (COSCE) was constituted and its statutes were approved.

Objectives

The need to identify the scientific community as a coherent and integrated interlocutor of both society itself and the public authorities is revealed as a requirement in the social structuring of our country, so often demanded.

It is for this reason that the scientific societies consolidate their commitment to continue contributing to this common enterprise through the COSCE, which after the latest incorporations groups 84 societies representing more than 40,000 scientists.

The aims of COSCE, set out in its statutes, are as follows:

• To contribute to the scientific and technological development of our country.
• To act as a qualified and unified interlocutor, both before civil society itself and before its representative public authorities in matters affecting science.
• Promote the role of science and contribute to its dissemination as a necessary and essential ingredient of culture.

The existence of COSCE represents an unequivocal indicator of the maturity of the scientific community, the expression of its capacity for service and its willingness to assume the responsibility demanded by society, without renouncing the collective protagonism that science is acquiring.