Italy looks ahead

vici " it wasn't. When the former president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, declared his victory in the Italian elections, it was more of a photo finish than a Caesarean triumph. After days of counting and recounting, Prodi's 9-party alliance was by just over 25,000 votes (less than 0.1%) ahead of the coalition of parting prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who stubbornly refused to admit defeat. The election drew more attention than Italian politics normally would, as Berlusconi's colourful character and the political style displayed over the last five years managed to divide opinions not only in his country but in the rest of the world as well. Many Italian scientists, too, will have been following the elections and the aftermath with particular attention. Over the last few years, a consensus has emerged that the situation of science in Italy is bad and getting worse. The most conspicuous indicator of Italy's problem is the fact that the overall R&D spending of the country is lagging far behind even the EU average. By 2010, the 15 then EU members agreed in 2000, each member state should invest 3% of its GDP in research. The latest figures available for all member states (for 2003) show a leading group ranging from Sweden (4.3%) to the Netherlands (1.9%). Italy leads the rearguard with 1.1%. To add insult to injury, the latest competitiveness ranking of the World Economic Forum lists Italy in position 47, the lowest position for any of the 15 established EU members, and on equal scores with Botswana. Romano Prodi has already committed himself to spending more money on research. Talking to scientists before the election, he reportedly mentioned a figure of 400 million euros per year on top of current spending. Prodi has also consulted scientists to find out what the extra money should be spent on. The trend under Berlusconi's aegis had been to favour applied research and cut back on fundamental science. Prodi's government is likely to follow the recommendations of scientists who would like to see this policy reversed. Obviously, if he wants to spend more money on science and make a tangible difference for the situation of science in Italy, he will also have to look at how this money is distributed. Both With Silvio Berlusconi finally conceding defeat in last month's election, Michael Gross considers prospects for an improved Italian science base under the centre-left coalition …