Quotes of the Day

Will Europe ever come up with the money it needs to plug its brain drain in science and technology? In France, scientists are sick of waiting — so this week, hundreds of research directors are planning to resign from their administrative duties to protest chronic underfunding and understaffing.

Thousands of scientists took to the streets in white lab coats last week, and some 60,000 researchers signed a petition charging the government with "financially asphyxiating public research institutions." Says Marc Peschanski, who heads research into neurological disorders at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research: "Massive resignation is the only way to give an electric shock to the government and the people of France."

In an attempt to calm the protesters, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin last week promised [EURO]3 billion in additional science funding by 2007.

France isn't the stingiest: it spent 2.2% of its GDP on R and D in 2002, compared to only 1.84% for Britain (the U.S. spent 2.8%). So maybe it's not so surprising that at a breakfast last week with top scientists, British Chancellor Gordon Brown outlined a 10-year investment plan to boost British scientific research — and didn't say how much he was planning to spend on it.

• JAMES GRAFF
• Will Europe ever come up with the money it needs to plug its brain drain in science and technology?