Academics who are paralysed by Brazil's political and financial crisis should take heart (see Nature 526, 16–17; 2015). Funds approved for 2014 by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, the country's most important funding agency, were fully deposited and are available to principal investigators until 2016 or, in some cases, 2017.

It is crucial, however, that these resources are managed and used wisely. Coordinators must honour their original funding agreements for designated projects.

These guarantees would buy enough time for President Dilma Rousseff to help to restore Brazil's long-standing record of growing and consistent investment in research.