New money, new physics
Aug 1, 1998
Last month's announcement by the
UK government that it will invest an extra £1bn in science over the
next three years was a long overdue shot in the
arm for the
country's research community.
Report after report has criticized the
state of research equipment and
laboratories in Britain's universities,
while the
UK is one of the
few countries in which spending on R&D has fallen as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) over the
past decade.
Indeed,
government support for R&D as a fraction of GDP is currently little over half of what it was in 1981.
The UK's new Labour government is to be congratulated,
and
those who doubted its commitment to science -
this magazine included -
are happy to be proved wrong.
The boost is particularly impressive because ambitious plans to increase spending on science by 100% over twelve years in the
United States,
and
by 50% over five years in Japan,
are looking ever more unlikely.
Please sign in
To continue reading this article please sign in below.
Not registered with physicsworld.com?
Register now
for FREE access to all In depth articles plus many other benefits. Just complete the quick and simple form.
Register now It's free!
Already registered? Then there's no need to do a thing, just sign in below.
![[IOP]](http://images.iop.org/cws/icons/themes/phw/colophon-small.png){kind=icon}
