Science gets clinical for cash

Rumours are rife about when the Treasury will unveil its spending allocations and the ten-year investment plan for science - the good-news story the Chancellor hopes will take the sting out of a miserly overall payout. Insiders at the Department for Education and Skills have been insisting that announcements will be made as usual in mid-July, but sources close to the Treasury team suggest that the end of June is now looking much more likely. Regardless of exact timings, lobbying is getting feverish. With a big bonus for clinical research looking indisputable, sources close to the research councils say that chief executives are anxiously trying to rebadge important research as patient-centred in the hope of securing a slice of the cake.