French scientists alarmed by ‘disastrous’ cut to research budget

Scientists in France are reeling after the government announced it will cut €904 million from this year’s budget for research and higher education. The cut, announced last week, is part of a broader €10 billion savings package that the government says is necessary to limit the nation’s public deficit in the face of dwindling economic growth since the budget law was adopted in December 2023. But scientists say the research sector is bearing a disproportionate share of the pain. The move comes hot on the heels of recent social crises in France, including farmers protesting rising costs and regulatory burdens , in which the government has “completely disregarded” scientific expertise, says Patrick Lemaire, president of the Alliance of French Academic Learned Societies and an embryologist at CNRS, the nation’s major multidisciplinary research center. The developments represent a “very ominous pattern,” he says, and send a message that is “disastrous for scientists.” Under the planned cut for science—which represents a 2.8% reduction in this year’s budget for higher education and research —funding for national research organizations such as CNRS and the National Research Agency (ANR), which funds competitive research, will be reduced by €383 million across all disciplines. “This unprecedented drop … will inevitably delay and endanger research programs,” the National Trade Union of Scientific Researchers (SNCS) st...
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Source Type: news