The arrival last week of Britain's new coalition government, an unlikely union between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, has brought mixed emotions for U.K. researchers. There has been a generally positive response to the choice of government ministers responsible for science. But after 13 years of a Labour administration that greatly improved the lot of scientists (Science, 18 May 2007, p. 965), and with the government deficit at record levels, there is grave concern that research funding will be hit. "The most important issue is to what extent cuts will fall on research and the best universities," says astronomer Martin Rees, president of the Royal Society in London.
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