Striking the right balance

A letter from two cell biologists reignites the debate about funding distribution in the Netherlands

Many Dutch scientists fear that the country’s budget for blue-sky research will drop in relative terms in the coming years. In politics and industry, the idea seems to have taken hold that strategic innovation and large, mission-oriented programmes are better ways to support economic growth and social progress. But increasingly, scientists are stressing that the opposite is the case.

Early last week, Raymond Poot and Frank Grosveld, both cell biologists at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, wrote to the science minister and economic affairs secretary to say that basic, blue-sky research deserved more funding.