More than 250 scientists inside and outside Croatia have signed a petition calling for more transparency in the country's funding of science and technology.

In particular, the petition calls for an investigation into a technology-development grant issued two years ago to Dragan Primorac, now the country's science minister.

The scientists allege “irregularities” and possible conflicts of interest in the operation and funding of the 1-million (US$1.2-million) project to establish a forensic and molecular-genetics laboratory — accusations Primorac denies. Primorac won the grant in December 2003, when he was director of a clinic at the Holy Spirit Hospital in Zagreb. He was appointed minister four days later.

The petition was prompted by some scientists' unhappiness that, over a few months, the lab's grant money was transferred between several different institutes in Zagreb. They also want to know how Primorac resolved potential conflicts of interest relating to the grant — for example, he was a member of the technology council that evaluated and approved his own grant.

Vlatko Silobrcic, former director of the Institute of Immunology in Zagreb and a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences, was one of the petition's 15 original signatories. He says that the episode is symptomatic of a general lack of openness in the way science money is allocated in the country. “The action was started to get answers to issues that we think are important for the science system in Croatia,” he says. “It is legitimate to ask questions about possible conflicts of interest.”

Kresšimir Pavelić, director of molecular medicine at the Rudjer Bosšković Institute, Croatia's largest research institute, is currently in sole charge of the project. An institute spokesman says that the moves were largely an attempt to find enough lab space.

Meanwhile, Primorac told Nature that he has always been open about the moves, and that concerns about conflicts of interest are unfounded. “I have nothing to hide,” he says, adding that the criticisms are part of a “relentless campaign” against him.