Years ago, an agreement was made to raise state funding for research and development to at least 1 percent of GDP. Since the economy will not grow as expected this year, Finance Minister Mart Võrklaev's (Reform) proposal, which was made public on Monday, suggests it is possible to reduce this year's science funding by €19 million without breaking the agreement.

"From whatever angle we look at it, €19 million is a significant sum for the sector. We currently don't have an overview of how exactly it will be distributed across different sectors. This will certainly affect not only university research but also state and private sector research," said Toomas Asser, rector of the University of Tartu and chairman of the Council of Rectors. He noted that the details of the cutback plan have not yet reached the universities.

According to Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200), €6.5 million of the planned cut will come from the government's targeted reserve. The Ministry of Education and Research hoped to receive funds from the European Union for the Teaming measure's excellence centers, aimed at fostering direct connections between research centers in Eastern and Western Europe, which came with a co-financing obligation.

"Today we know that the committee will not get to this decision this year. These funds can be cut for now," explained Katrin Kiisler, head of R&D at the Ministry of Education and Research. Upon approval, possible sources of funding will need to be considered in the following years. The amount of money needed will depend on the number of projects that receive the green light from the commission.

The remaining €12.5 million must be found within the additional funds allocated to science by various ministries. More than half of this amount will be managed by the Ministry of Education and Research, with 27 percent by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. The remaining 17 percent will be distributed among other ministries. Consequently, the Ministry of Education and Research must cut approximately €6 million.

Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas assured that the primary instruments of science – research grants and basic funding for research – would remain untouched. The cuts will also spare the doctoral reform, which transformed PhD students into salaried junior researchers, as well as research centers of excellence. "We have set a principle that cuts should not reduce the current capacity of the scientific system, and the system will continue to function very well despite the cuts," confirmed Katrin Kiisler.

However, pilot development grants, which saved €1-2 million, will be discontinued. This measure was intended for researchers hoping to develop their research results into practical applications within a couple of years. For example, last year, a project to use recycled materials from lithium-ion batteries received funding. Successful projects also included methods for identifying varieties using genetic markers, enabling companies to adopt such innovations more easily.

Additionally, the Ministry of Education and Research hopes to save around €2 million from the mobility grants for researchers and the green investment fund intended to reduce the fixed costs of research institutions. "We prefer to completely stop some measures rather than making a 5 percent cut across many lines and contracts," explained Kiisler. She hoped that researchers could continue traveling abroad thanks to other existing measures.

"The Estonian Research Council allocates the majority of its budget as national research grants. Therefore, it is good to read that we don't have to approach researchers with cutback messages at this stage," said Anu Noorma, director of the Estonian Research Council. The latest round of research grant applications ended in March, and the foundation is currently evaluating the applications. Although researchers hoping to apply for development grants this year may be disappointed, the broader cuts are relatively painless, according to Noorma.

Mart Kalm, rector of the Estonian Academy of Arts, noted that it is pointless to pretend that the cuts will not impact Estonian science at all. "The impact is certainly negative, there is no doubt about it. I also don't think that Estonia is engaged in widespread squandering. However, if we are currently experiencing tough economic times and need to cut back, then we must cut back and bear the consequences until things improve," said Kalm.

Kalm added that Kristina Kallas met with the Council of Rectors last week and explained her political choices to them. "We were pleased to hear that the minister does not plan to cut the operational support for universities, the basic funding for science or the funds for junior researcher PhD students. This means that the basic aspects affecting the functioning of universities, teaching and research activities are among the minister's priorities," Kalm recalled.

Toomas Asser noted that the previous government decision to increase higher education funding by 15 percent annually for four years, from 2023 to 2026, indirectly helps mitigate the impact of the cuts on Estonian science. "If there is still an agreement regarding operational support, then the component of higher education operational support is significantly more impactful than the cuts. I hope that if the minister has such principles, we will even understand this," said Asser. But he also recalled that total research expenses reached 1 percent of GDP only in the first year of the science agreement and were closer to 0.7 percent thereafter.

Anu Noorma pointed out that excluding cuts to basic funding and centers of excellence, there isn't much left to cut from the proposed measures. For instance, savings cannot be made from international cooperation. "If we cannot bring projects home with dignity, this source of funding might dry up for us, and our credibility with international partners will undoubtedly suffer. Meanwhile, the next EU framework program is being prepared, where we want Estonia's interests to be well represented," said Noorma.

Noorma also mentioned that the funding of measures initiated by structural funds in Estonia, which help advance the Estonian scientific system with support from Europe, cannot be reduced. "Knowledge transfer measures are substantial. It requires joint contributions from both the ministry and research institutions so that the measures from Europe can help advance our scientific system during budget cuts until we can create our national funding measures," said Noorma.

Due to the insufficient growth of researchers caused by a poor demographic situation, it is also necessary to consider how much money could be spent on attracting foreign researchers to Estonia.

The operational costs of the Research Council itself amount to €3.7 million of its €118 million budget. This includes expenses for popularizing science, intersectoral mobility and maintaining the Brussels office. "If the cuts apply equally to everyone, we will have to start cutting from the operational costs line and discuss with the ministry which activities we can stop," explained Noorma. Part of these costs will already be reduced due to the discontinuation of measures such as development grants, which no longer require external experts for evaluation.

Noorma emphasized that the Research Council has not yet received a clear directive regarding the cuts. "We do not have a specific agreement with the ministry on what will be cut, although we sense that the state needs to make cuts. There has been news that the Ministry of Finance has initiated an audit to evaluate the performance of foundations. Against this background, we are not planning how to direct more money to researchers but rather looking at how already made decisions can be best covered and how to maintain instruments that support the long-term foundations of science," said Noorma.

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