During the Argentinian presidential elections, Javier Milei wielded a chainsaw as a symbol of his desire to cut the budget. It’s researchers who are now at the cutting end. | Photo: Keystone / Natacha Pisarenko

When he was running to be the next president of Argentina, Javier Milei appeared on the campaign trail wielding a chainsaw as a metaphor for how he was going to slash government spending. After a year in office, the science world is certainly feeling the impact of this. According to a report in Nature, the budget for government-funded research was cut by 30 percent in 2024. And Le Monde  writes that 70 percent of university lecturers and researchers are earning below the poverty line. Many of those affected are now leaving the country – despite Argentina having already launched a programme to entice them back as recently as 2016. But it’s not just about the money. In a cost-cutting measure decided in January 2025, writes the Buenos Aires Times,  the Argentinian government in future only wants to fund the strategic research fields of agriculture, energy and mining, along with the knowledge economy and health innovation.