Scientists flock to sign petition for more FP7 funding

The petition for increased EU funding for research, launched after the failure of the June ‘budget-summit’, has already been signed by more than 13,000 scientists.

The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and the European Life Sciences Forum (ELSF) started, on 24 June 2005, an online petition calling for increased funding for research in the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for Reseach and Technological Development (FP7). The petition was started in response to the Luxembourg Presidency’s budget proposal drastically cutting the Commission’s proposal for FP7 budget.

The petition, open to scientists of all disciplines, has been rapidly spread and signed by over 13,000 scientists from all over Europe and the rest of the world. “The decisive response from the scientific community sends a clear message to the political leaders in Europe,” said EMBO Executive Director, Frank Gannon. 

The petition has no closing date yet but its results will be communicated to the EU heads of state and government and the relevant ministers.

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