Greek research funds moved to pay public-sector salaries

The Greek parliament has passed an emergency decree authorising a confiscation of research funding to pay public-sector workers.

Greece’s research minister Costas Fotakis is reported in Science magazine as saying the move is an interim measure that will place money in high-interest accounts at the Bank of Greece before being returned, once a “fair agreement in the on-going negotiations for the Greek debt” is reached.

Science reports that researchers are trying to counter the mandatory confiscation, passed on 20 April, by stocking up on consumables and paying PhD student salaries months in advance.