Bulgarian scientists pray for more resources
Young scientists from across Bulgaria joined in a peaceful rally in front of the parliament, protesting against the low level of state funding, the Sofia News Agency Novinite reports. 'Science in Bulgaria will very soon go into extinction thanks to the stingy state and ignorance will hang like a loop around the neck of the people,' the protestors, from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and universities across the country, were reported as saying. The scientists walked three times around the parliament building, stopping at each corner and praying that 'God endows the MPs with wisdom to take care of its people'. The young people wore loops hanging from their necks with signs saying 'Ignorance', 'Apathy' and 'Lack of spirituality'. In a letter addressed to the parliamentary speaker and the head of the education parliamentary commission, the protestors insisted that the government make science and education its highest priority. Under the Lisbon strategy EU Member States should be gradually increasing the percentage they spend on research and development (R&D) so that it reaches 3% of GDP by 2010. Bulgaria, which joined the European Union on 1 January 2007, currently spends 0.3% of its GDP on R&D, compared to a European average of 1.84% in 2005.
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