The threat of budget cuts has created quite a buzz in the UK science community, but an announcement made yesterday assured scientists that funds will be frozen at £4.6 billion for the next four years. The drastic 25% cuts that many were fearing will not happen between 2011 and 2015, according to the recently released Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).
The CSR did, however, include a cut of around 7.1% a year for the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), which funds science and research, though this will not affect the current budget freeze. The announcement also guaranteed that the money allocated for the science budget will not be spent elsewhere.
“Britain is a world leader in scientific research and this is vital to our future economic success,” said Chancellor George Osborne in his budget statement. “I am confident that our [scientific] output can increase over the next few years.”
[Source: physicsworld.com]
