The European Union planned Horizon 2020 research budget took a significant hit when the European Council cut the proposed budget from €77.6 billion to €69.24 billion. The massive research program may yet see some of these funds returned as the European Parliament still has to weigh in. For mor information, see http://www.nature.com/news/europe-s-leaders-slash-research-budget-1.12403. Similar cuts are in the offing for US research programs if sequestration is allowed to go into effect. Research programs provide significant returns making them a good investment in the future. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make it any easier to find the necessary budgetary funding to support research.
