With the help of a €180 million ($200 million) investment from the EU’s investment bank and an additional €60 million from the government, Greece will establish its first federally backed research agency. The Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) will help boost the country’s research output by funding basic research projects, distributing fellowship awards and fulfilling equipment requests. Eventually, it will also establish a branch for translational research. From 2018 onward, the HFRI is expected to receive €20 million annually from the government. Parliament is currently creating a bill to establish the HFRI, with plans for the agency to operate like the NSF in the US and the DFG Research Foundation in Germany. In the past, Greece has been among EU countries that have invested the least into research. During the debt crisis in 2010, many graduates and postgraduates left the country, and local scientists had to depend on international funding for projects. Leaders in Greece’s scientific community expect the government to support HFRI research funding and hope to attract funding from non-government sources as well.

Source: Nature