A delegation led by Nobel laureates meets the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, to urge EU leaders to secure the future budget for research and innovation Horizon 2020. They will hand in an open letter, signed by 44 Nobel laureates and 6 Fields medallists, warning against the dramatic consequences of possible budget cuts in research and innovation. The delegation will also draw attention to a petition “No cuts on research” in support of this cause; to date signed by over 131 000 citizens in Europe and across the globe. These Europe-wide initiatives are launched ahead of the 22-23 November European summit on the overall EU budget for 2014 till 2020.
Sir Tim Hunt, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2001, and member of the
European Research Council (ERC) Scientific Council said: “It is a great honour for us to meet the
EU Presidents in Brussels. I hope our discussions will promote the initiatives led by the research
community. It would be a mistake to cut funding in research and innovation, which are crying out
for investment. Disproportionate budget cuts would not only cause pain to thousands of researchers,
but also lead to ‘brain drain’ to the U.S. and elsewhere. Europe can ill afford to lose its most
talented scientists and engineers.”
The open letter which was initiated by Nobel laureates Sir Tim Hunt and Professor
Nüsslein-Volhard, both members of the ERC Scientific Council, underlines "it is essential that we
support, and even more importantly, inspire in a pan-European way the extraordinary wealth of
research and innovation potential that exists all over Europe" and warns that “in case of severe
cuts to the EU research and innovation budget we risk losing a generation of talented scientists
just when Europe needs them most." The letter which was published in key media on 23 October, also
points to the ERC that "has achieved global recognition in a remarkably short time."
Today’s initiative aims to preserve the European Commission’s proposed budget for 2014-2020
(€ 80 billion, see EC press release) thus ensuring that research and innovation do not suffer from
disproportionate cuts when compared to other programmes.
Building upon the letter, young researchers from various scientific fields launched a
petition coordinated by the Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE), making an appeal to EU leaders
for not making cuts to the research budget. Within hours, thousands of citizens signed it across
all EU member states and worldwide and to date, they are over 131 000. The petition will be handed
in to the three EU Presidents.
The delegation led by Nobel Laureates that will meet the EU Presidents, is composed of: Sir
Tim Hunt (Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2001), Jules Hoffmann (Nobel Laureate in
Physiology or Medicine 2011), Helga Nowotny (President of the European Research Council, ERC),
Maria Leptin (President of the Initiative for Science in Europe and Director of the European
Molecular Biology Organisation, EMBO), Wolfgang Eppenschwandtner (Executive Coordinator of the
Initiative for Science in Europe, ISE), Leif Schröder (Secretary for the Young Academy of Europe).
15 Nov 2012