The Calar Alto observatory, jointly run by Spain and Germany, is struggling to keep going after its budget was cut in half and its director resigned, according to an appeal from the Andalusian Astrophysics Institute (IAA).
The IAA issued a statement on Monday warning that the observatory’s Spanish budget was set at €2.2 million by its two funders, the Spanish research council CISC and the German Max Planck Association. This compares to a budget of €4 million per year in 2011 and 2012, the institute stated.
Of the €2.2m, around €600,000 will be needed to pay for outstanding expenses from last year, reducing the observatory’s 2014 budget even further. After hearing the news, Calar Alto’s director Jose Maria Quintana spontaneously resigned, the IAA said on 17 March.
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