Molecular medicine and biotechnology are the big winners in Germany's proposed federal science budget for 2001. As long as it is approved by parliament, total federal spending on science will rise next year by 5.3%, to DM15.37 billion (US$7.5 billion).

The increase means that the coalition government of Social Democrats and Greens remains loyal to its 1998 election promise to significantly increase spending on research. Within this total, money available for university building and large equipment — hitherto notoriously underfunded items — is to increase by DM215 million, and will next year total DM2.22 billion.

The new budget also illustrates Germany's efforts to become a world leader in genomics research (see also Nature 406, 6; 2000). Since 1998, project money available for biotechnology and molecular medicine has risen by 30.4% and 47.8%, respectively, now reaching DM220 and DM96 million.

Institutional funding of the main research organizations will also rise. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the main funding agency for university research, will get DM1.23 billion, 5% more than last year. The Max Planck Society, Germany's largest non-university basic research organization, will receive a more modest increase of 3.9%, taking its funding to DM888 million. Both organizations will received similar sums from Länder (state) budgets.