More money for research in public and private sectors
Dieser Artikel in Deutsch
Almost 340 million EUR will be available for climate research in 2008 (Foto: European Community, 2007). Click
Sie here for a larger image.
 |
For 2008, the budget of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is planned to go up by almost eight percent to 9.187 billion EUR - that is an increase of roughly 670 million EUR. But it is not only government spending on research and development (R&D) that is increasing: a forecast by the Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany reveals that the private sector is constantly raising its R&D investment, too: in the last two years by more than eight percent.
"These figures are very pleasing," Federal Minister of Research, Annette Schavan, commented. "I am confident we'll be able to use the upturn in the economy for sustainable growth." This is a significant step towards achieving the target set by the EU Member States of investing a total of three percent of gross domestic product in research and development in the public and private sectors by 2010.
The fields that will profit particularly from the larger BMBF budget are the focus areas climate and energy whose budgets will increase by roughly 16 percent to 336 million EUR. This support will essentially benefit the Federal Government's recent resolution on climate research strategy. Life sciences will receive additional funding of nearly 50 million EUR. Here the ministry's priorities are on founding a National Centre for Combating Dementia and the Pharmaceuticals Initiative.
| 
