Polish academics call for research funding to be trebled

Polish academics have demanded a near tripling of research funding, warning that the country’s public science sector could “vanish” within a decade without urgent action.

A protest is set to be held outside the parliament building in Warsaw on 27 May after more than more than 17,500 people signed a petition backing calls to increase spending on research and development from 1.08 per cent to 3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030. 

Łukasz Okruszek, one of the organisers of the campaign, known as “3% for Science, 100% for Poland”, said it follows years of unsuccessful lobbying efforts as research funding has continued to decline.

“We felt like we were stuck in a loop. It was like Groundhog Day,” said Okruszek, the head of the Social Neuroscience Lab at the Polish Academy of Sciences. “We launched petitions, reached out to politicians and repeated the same arguments year after year, but nothing changed.”

Okruszek said the rally would bring together early career researchers, PhD students and university staff from across Poland. 

The campaign has drawn support from a broad coalition, ranging from trade unions to university groups such as the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland.

“There is widespread support for the cause because people realise it is now a question of either/or. Either we act, or the Polish public science sector could vanish within a decade,” he said. 

Okruszek added that the University of Warsaw, one of the country’s leading universities, had allowed students and academics to take part in the protest.

Poland currently spends 1.08 per cent of its GDP on science and higher education directly from the state budget, rising to 1.44 per cent when European Union funding and private-sector investment are included.

Another organiser, Agata Starosta, a molecular biologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences, said the sector was facing a chronic brain drain.

“The problem in Poland is that young people are no longer choosing careers in academia,” she said. “Currently, only 3 per cent of researchers are under 30, and only 25 per cent are under 40. That means we are heading towards a huge generational gap.”

Starosta said the protest aimed both to support younger researchers and to raise awareness about the importance of science. 

“PhD students in Poland receive a stipend worth around 70 per cent of the minimum wage, which is simply not enough to live on,” she said. “Many students are forced to take second jobs, and that can have a serious impact on their academic performance.”

She added that there was a widespread misconception that investment in science came at the expense of national security or other public services.

“We often hear that the budget is tight and that it’s either science or defence, healthcare or schools,” she said. “But science can help move the country forward. Instead of relying on technologies developed elsewhere, we should be investing in creating our own.”

seher.asaf@timeshighereducation.com