Extra EU funds should go to public research, say scientists

Petition launched to increase Italy’s public R&D spending to 1.1 per cent of GDP

An appeal to spend economic recovery funds on research, spearheaded by one of Italy’s star physicists, has received widespread backing across the country.

The appeal, led by the now-retired Cern physicist Ugo Amaldi, asks Italy’s scientific and academic communities to join forces and convince the government that the country’s Next Generation EU spending plan should focus on science and innovation. Italy only spends around 0.5 per cent of its GDP on publicly funded research and the plan is a chance to improve this, Amaldi says.