Scientists protest in Bratislava and Košice against budget cuts

Holding banners with slogans such as “Let Us Invest into Science and Technologies, the Future Will Thank Us” and “Science Wants to Live, not Survive”, Slovak scientists protested on Námestie Slobody (Freedom Square) in Bratislava and in downtown Košice on October 29 against the budget cuts in the 2015 state budget draft. Scientists pointed out that the transfer of €8 million to projects of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) as recently proposed by the Education, Science, Research and Sport Ministry won't resolve the planned budgetary cut of 16.9 percent year-on-year for SAV in 2015. Matej Stano from SAV’s Molecular Biology Institute told the TASR newswire that SAV will have to compete with universities for the money from the ministry, while it has not been resolved how the funds can be spent on salaries, either. “At any rate, the SAV budget hasn’t been upped, and we’re lacking €2 million,” said Stano, adding that the overall SAV budget should be increased at least to €66.5 million. “We view our work as a vocation,” SAV Ethnology Institute director Tatiana Podolinska told TASR. “At the moment, we receive twice as much as the minimum salary. People with two PhD titles who can easily leave for abroad have decided to work here, they achieve excellent results, but their financial evaluation is far from appropriate.”

Holding banners with slogans such as “Let Us Invest into Science and Technologies, the Future Will Thank Us” and “Science Wants to Live, not Survive”, Slovak scientists protested on Námestie Slobody (Freedom Square) in Bratislava and in downtown Košice on October 29 against the budget cuts in the 2015 state budget draft.

Scientists pointed out that the transfer of €8 million to projects of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) as recently proposed by the Education, Science, Research and Sport Ministry won't resolve the planned budgetary cut of 16.9 percent year-on-year for SAV in 2015.

Matej Stano from SAV’s Molecular Biology Institute told the TASR newswire that SAV will have to compete with universities for the money from the ministry, while it has not been resolved how the funds can be spent on salaries, either. “At any rate, the SAV budget hasn’t been upped, and we’re lacking €2 million,” said Stano, adding that the overall SAV budget should be increased at least to €66.5 million.

“We view our work as a vocation,” SAV Ethnology Institute director Tatiana Podolinska told TASR. “At the moment, we receive twice as much as the minimum salary. People with two PhD titles who can easily leave for abroad have decided to work here, they achieve excellent results, but their financial evaluation is far from appropriate.”

(Source: TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.

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