Support Italian Research and Education

If you think that education is expensive, try ignorance.
- Derek Bok

... we will keep looking at the sky, not letting science, research and education go by.

Dear Friend

if you believe in research and education and you think that they should have no borders, give us your support with a "click".

Over the last few decades the Italian governments have been slowly killing research, universities and the educational system. The latest official excuse is the crisis but, once more, it seems somehow that the crisis has singled out specific areas to strike over and over again. The most recently announced financial cuts make no exception, addressing yet another, perhaps final, blow to Research and Education in Italy.

In the time-frame of a few days, the current government has realized that Italy is not immune to the crisis (!), and decided, basically overnight, to suppress/merge many Scientific Institutes to try and save money, just out of the blue, without prior discussion and with no long or even mid-term plan.

Needless to say that such a decision is not only scientifically but also economically questionable, bringing the whole country centuries back. But then again, with a quick turnaround, maybe due to the strong reaction of the community, our government changed its mind putting most of these dramatic suppressions/mergings on hold, leaving a sword hanging over our heads. Nevertheless, additional cuts to salaries and funding (including temporary staff) as well as severely reduced recruitment for the next 5 years will be applied, on top of which the suppression/merging of entire Institutes is pending, with frightening, uncontrollable uncertainty about the future. Not to mention the devastating cuts in the public educational system, the very one that must (should) forge the curious and prepared minds of tomorrow, that is painfully under-going a massive and continuous loss of money, knowledge, importance, respect.

Given the current difficult situation in Italy, we may have to fall as scientists, but we won't do so quietly. In knowledge, research, education resides our future and we will do our best not to let them go.

Adamantia Paizis (INAF, National Institute of Astrophysics),
Milano, June 23rd, 2010

Text in italian

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Last signature: November 20th, 2011