BARCELONA--Spain plans to boost research spending next year by 33%, but scientists are unhappy that much of the increase will go toward building more military weapons.
The total research budget for FY 2006, which starts on 1 January, will be $6.5 billion, including a 27% increase for military research. But funding for basic research in physics and chemistry, for example, would rise only marginally. The budget "reinforces the scientific militarization undertaken by previous governments over the last 10 years," says Jordi Armadans, director of a group of scientists against military research called Fundació per la Pau.
Researchers also object to the government's continued listing of military construction programs--tanks, ships, and the like--as research, despite a pledge this summer from Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero that such spending would not be part of the government's promised doubling of the research budget over the next 5 years. According to Fundació, more than 80% of the $1.7 billion for military R&D will go toward construction.
