BARCELONA--Spanish scientists heard good and bad news last week: R&D will get a hefty 35% increase in the 2005 budget, but the plan has left many wondering how much basic science will benefit.
Spain's investment in R&D--about 1% of its gross domestic product--is one of the lowest in Europe. So scientists were elated when Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero followed through on a campaign promise to boost R&D funding. But the budget details disclosed on 30 September left many confused. For example, more than 90% of the planned growth in the R&D National Fund, which supports most science programs, is to be paid in no-interest government loans. The largest share appears slated for technology parks, innovation centers, and large facilities such as a synchrotron in Barcelona and a 10-meter optical telescope in the Canary Islands. The government also will create a new merit-based funding agency modeled on the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Government officials said the loans were necessary to "keep budgetary stability." But public sector scientists "are very worried; loans work best in the private sector," says Jordi Camí, director of the Barcelona-based Municipal Institute of Biomedical Research. Researchers may have to get used to the idea: The Socialist-controlled parliament is expected to approve the budget as it stands.
