Leading members of France's scientific establishment are threatening to resign en masse Tuesday to protest against a funding crisis which they say is forcing growing numbers of young researchers to pursue their careers abroad.
The directors of hundreds of laboratories and research institutes are to meet at the city hall in Paris to decide whether to carry through the threat, or to back down in the face of the extra money and mediation promised in recent days by Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
Many of the country's 105,000 public sector researchers are to stage a one-day strike in support.
Launched in January to protest against what it said was the centre-right government's weakening commitment to public sector science, the movement "Save Research" has won the backing of some of France's top specialists as well as more than 60,000 signatures to a national petition.
Raffarin and his science minister, former astronaut Claudie Haignere, have taken steps to defuse the anger, unblocking frozen credits, setting up a national commission to study the future of French research and on Friday promising three million euros (3.7 million dollars) in new money over the next three years.
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