French science budget slammed

Scientists in France have denounced the science budget for 2005, announced last week, saying that the government has failed to respond to complaints about low funding and poor employment conditions.The French government allocated an extra €1 billion (USD $1.23 billion) for research in its 2005 budget, unveiled on Wednesday (September 22), at a time when it is struggling to cut its budget deficit to within European Union limits. However, Jacques Fossey, the secretary general of the National Union of Scientific Researchers, said that the extra money would lead to few tangible benefits for scientists working in the universities and research institutes. "The government has given money to create only 150 new permanent posts at universities," Fossey told The Scientist. "If France is going to meet the European objective of spending 3% of the GDP on research by 2010, we will have to create about 2000 permanent positions for scientists each year between now and then. This budget—like the budgets of the previous years—is very weak on the creation of permanent positions at universities and research institutes."Fossey said that the poor situation for scientists was rapidly developing into one of the greatest threats facing French science. "To attract the best young people of every generation, we have to offer them good employment conditions," Fossey said. "We have what is called the postdoc phenomenon. Young scientists have to spend years on temporary contracts before they move to permanent positions. These poor employment conditions mean that science is no longer as attractive to bright young people."Fossey said that the extra €356 million (USD $437 million) that the government had allocated to research institutions and universities would only recover about half the ground lost after tough financial belt tightening over the past 2 years, when over €618 million (USD $759 million) was cut from the science budget. Fossey also said that much of the money earmarked to establish a new national agency in January 2005 would not be directly available for scientists. Furthermore, the €300 million (USD $369 million) the government plans to give companies who invest in research as tax breaks was a "fiscal present" for private enterprise and not money directly available for research, he said.The unions have vowed to continue their campaign to persuade the government to increase funding for science. However, the government said that the extra €1 billion earmarked for science next year represented a first step in a long-term plan to increase spending on science to 3% of gross domestic product.Sophie Chevallon, spokesperson from the Ministry of Research, said that the extra money represented a 10% increase in spending on science. "One billion euros is an enormous sum," she told The Scientist.Chevallon noted that the government's decision to create 150 permanent posts for scientists in universities came at a time when more than 2000 civil service jobs are to be axed, thereby underlining the government's commitment to science. "You have to see the budget in its context. The scientific community has come off relatively well," Chevallon said. She also insisted that the majority of the €350 million (USD $430 million) allocated to develop a new national agency would flow directly into research projects.In addition, Chevallon said that the tax breaks were needed to encourage private enterprise to invest more in research. "In France, we need to motivate the private sector to invest more in research." she said.Perhaps the need to raise much more private capital for research is the only point of agreement between the government and the scientists' unions in France. "A big problem is getting private companies to invest more in research," Fossey said. "In 2003, the amount of money that private companies invested in R&D actually fell for the first time in 20 or 30 years, and there is no sign that it is about to grow enormously in the near future."

French science budget slammed

Government has offered 1 billion euros, but the scientists' union is unimpressed

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