EU Science Budget: No Cuts in Research

29 Oct 2012

EU Science Budget: No Cuts in Research

The discussions at and around the next summit of the European Union heads of states and governments, scheduled for 22 and 23 November, will be decisive in determining the EU research budget for the next seven years. Several Member States are demanding severe cuts on the total EU budget and research will have to compete with other policy priorities.

This is a time when we, the scientific community, should act together and make our case to protect research funding, including that of the European Research Council (ERC), from cuts. Decisions will be prepared in discussions among politicians at the national level. All of us must look for opportunities to affect these decisions and send a strong signal to the Heads of State or Government.

An open letter signed by European Nobel laureates has been published in top European newspapers this week. The impact of this letter will be increased if it is followed by a mobilization of the national scientific communities.

An online petition has been launched to keep the momentum going:

Secure the EU research budget for a future-oriented Europe

I would like to ask you to sign it and to encourage your research group members and colleagues to do likewise. Note that in the past less than 30 000 scientists signed the largest petition for a scientific cause in Europe compared to the hundreds of thousands of signatures on petitions from other groups of society. We must do better than that.

This action is coordinated by the Initiative for " target="_blank">Science in Europe, of which EMBO is a member. Please contact Wolfgang Eppenschwandtner, Executive Coordinator of the ISE if you have any questions or suggestions.

Best regards,
Maria Leptin
President, ISE
Director, EMBO
Meyerhofstr. 1
69117 Heidelberg
Germany

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