Due to the tough times, the EU's largest biomedical research charity, the Wellcome Trust, has lost £2 billion in assets, and is therefore cutting its funding for grants by £30 million.

Wellcome Trust's Gibbs Building

In a statement, the charity announced: "Over the next financial year we will commit around £590 million to support biomedical research in the UK and internationally, as compared to £620 million in 2007/08."

The charity says it will also continue to fund large-scale "strategic" projects. Wellcome's asset base has shrunk from £15.1 billion to £13.1 billion.

This belt-tightening will undoubtedly steepen competition for funding, reported Science Business. In response, the Trust said it will "continue to prioritise funding the brightest people and the best ideas."

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.


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