Your pessimistic report on the state of the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia (Nature 484, 14; 2012) is based on a selection of distorted negative quotes. As chairman of the institute's trustees, I believe that this view is misleading and damaging to its hard-won scientific reputation in a region with little research history.

The morale of institute staff is low at present, but that is down to repeated delays in state funding rather than to its president's management style. You highlight harsh criticism from Nicholas Papadopoulos, chair of the parliament finance committee, but he has never visited the institute — despite repeated invitations. His comments are at odds with the government's whole-hearted support (see http://go.nature.com/fkqphb).

You are incorrect in saying that the institute signed an agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to design a solar-energy plant, which is an initiative funded by the European Union; MIT is one of the partners in the institute's Energy, Environment and Water Research Center, which, among other projects, is in charge of the plant. You should also have mentioned that an audit found no improprieties in the institute's finances.

In our interviews for the story, Jos Lelieveld and I expressed full confidence in the institute and its management, but our views failed to come over in your report. I stressed, among other things, the board and scientific council's overwhelming acknowledgement of the institute's development and successes, and of the credit due to its staff and leadership, particularly its president.