Australia’s midyear budget will cut Sustainable Research Excellence (SRE) grants by 40% to AUD 79 million ($81.9 million) for 2012–2013. Although research grants were not subject to cuts, the SRE grants, which have supported overhead expenses for research since 2009, will receive AUD 499 million less over the next four years than originally announced. Funding for the program will reach AUD 300 million by 2016, which is three years later than initially anticipated. However, the Australian Research Council (ARC) and Cooperative Research Centers (CRC), the country’s primary sources of research funding, escaped budget cuts. Researchers will receive nearly AUD 880 million in ARC Discovery and Linkage grants and AUD 154 million in CRC grants.

Source: Nature