Finnish public research funding increase fails to meet expectations
The Finnish government has announced plans to increase public spending on research by 230 million euro per year, a move that has disappointed many researchers who believed that, according to previous statements, the government planned to earmark an extra 405 million euro for research. Finland's new coalition government, headed by Prime Minister Anneli Jaeaetteenmaeki, had initially appeared ready to accept the higher figure based on the recommendation of the national Science and Technology Policy Council. This would have raised annual public research spending to 1.8 billion euro from its current level of 1.4 billion euro. However, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister's office told CORDIS News that while the figure of 405 million euro had been used as a reference in drafting the new budget framework, like any other figure it was subject to negotiation, and the government believes an increase of 230 million is sufficient to fulfil Finland's strategic research objectives. The majority of the extra money will be spent on universities and research institutions. Universities will receive an added 65 million euro a year for research, Tekes, the national technology agency, will see its annual budget increase by 85 million euro, and the Academy of Finland will see an increase in funding of 45 million euro.
Countries
Finland