With this month’s approval by the European Council of Ministers and Greece’s parliament of the most recent plan to bail out the country, prospects for Greece’s research budgets are improving. Since the Greek financial crisis began, researchers were dependent on international funds, such as Horizon 2020, to support their projects. Now, some money from the EU’s “structural fund,” which assists poor areas, will be available for research. Supporting October calls for research proposals will be €59 million ($66 million) from the structural-fund round that ended in 2014. Another €53 million, to be distributed over the next several years, will also be used for funding calls, as well as for fees to international research organizations and for researchers’ access to electronic journals. According to Research Minister Costas Fotakis, the calls will focus on proposals aiming to improve pressing issues in research, such as retaining the country’s researchers and improving its research climate.

Source: Nature