Concern grows over potential cut to ‘free’ research

Denmark’s 2021 reserve funding for last-minute priorities under scrutiny from academics

The Danish parliament—the Folketing—has agreed on where to spend the country’s research reserve funds for 2021, but the final amounts show a potential reduction in blue-skies funding.

The research reserve, a funding pot ringfenced to pay for urgent and societally relevant research, makes up about 6 per cent of the total Danish public research budget. According to an article in the magazine Magisterbladet, the total amount from this fund to be distributed next year has been pegged at 3.1 billion Danish kroner (€416 million), with DKK2.7 billion earmarked for research in environmentally friendly fields.