French budget spares science

Nature : France’s President François Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault have proposed a 2014 budget that includes a spending increase of 0.5% for the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, which will have €26 billion ($35 billion) at its disposal. Other initiatives receiving funding include the Young Innovative Company, which will have €58 million to support tech startups, and Investments for the Future, which will dole out a total of €5.3 billion to research projects in green energy, health, and other areas. The National Research Agency, however, will see its budget drop by 1% to €7.8 billion. Whether French science will continue to escape funding cuts remains to be seen. France’s public debt is predicted to exceed 95% of GDP in 2014. Hollande and Ayrault’s budget trimmed total government spending by around 1%.