Munich

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is to cut back its small but highly respected Science Programme and merge it with its public-relations office.

NATO's science division, which was set up in 1958, has supported high-quality military and civilian research. Its goal has been to strengthen scientific links between NATO states, and since the end of the cold war it has concentrated on supporting partnerships with scientists in new member states in central Europe and the 22 NATO 'partner countries' in eastern Europe and mid-Asia.

But the programme's 2003 budget has been cut to US$20 million, from $23 million last year. And next year it will be merged with NATO's Office of Information and Press to form a new public diplomacy division.

The move worries some researchers, who fear the programme may be heading for oblivion. “The situation seems stable for the coming year, but I am not very optimistic about the longer-term future of the Science Programme,” says Charles Buys, a geneticist at the University of Groningen who represents the Netherlands on NATO's Science Committee, which was informed of the planned change when it met in Brussels on 6 March.

But Brian Heap, who represents Britain on the committee, says that the new structure could actually raise the profile of NATO's research. “It is crucial to bring to public attention the fact that NATO is promoting peace and solidarity, while tackling the humanitarian challenges in its partner countries,” he says.

NATO plans to continue supporting partnerships that involve researchers in the new member states, but they will be reduced in number and limited to research topics directly relevant to NATO's mission, such as counter-terrorism.

→ http://www.nato.int/science