Spaniards defend science. More than 50’000 Spanish citizens have already signed a plea to the Ministry of Economy and asked their government to donate 0.7% of their personal income tax to science when paying contributions.
This petition is the result of the cut to research funding (€ 600 million) recently introduced by the government headed by Mariano Rajoy. The proponent of such an alternative idea is Francisco J. Hernadéz, a 26-year-old physicist who works as researcher in the department of zoology of the Cambridge University. He used social networks to spread his idea and, two days after the publication of the plea on his science blog, he had already received the support of thousands people, both in the science and in the social communities.
Despite this immediate success, the idea of Hernandéz is not free of blame. Among its opponents, indeed, there are those who do not want to give the impression that science research should be based on “alms”, as emerges from some discussion forums. Some others are afraid that this initiative may create an absurd situation where every citizen can ask to add a new box in the personal income tax model.
Young researchers who try to make a breach in this sector are the first victims of Government’s cuts and are obliged to move to England, Germany or the United States. The prestigious science magazine “Nature” had already made a plea to Spain, Italy and Greece so that they did not cut research funding.
The Ministry of Economy has not expressed its opinion on this matter yet. “Certainly, science cannot rely on a so reduced amount of money”, Hernandéz says. “We need a higher budget, which is constant and properly planned by Government. Through the plea on the Internet, we simply aimed at drawing the attention of the State, mass media and citizens on this serious issue. And we did it.”
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