MP Melnis Seeks to Assess Usefulness of Research Projects; Scientists Defend Fundamental Research

On July 22, the Saeima Public Expenditure and Audit Committee will discuss the usefulness of three research projects that received funding from the Latvian Council of Science's Fundamental and Applied Research Program (FLPP). Committee head Kaspars Melnis stated that in the current economic situation, it must be ensured that a €300,000 research project is useful and necessary. He also emphasized the need to keep people in Latgale and encourage those who left to return. Melnis admitted that he selected projects based on interesting titles because he could not understand their essence from them.

In response, RSU Associate Professor Klāvs Sedlenieks notes that concerns about academic freedom are justified, but the more important issue is how public money is spent. Sedlenieks explains that FLPP is specifically designed to support projects with the potential to engage with current global scientific questions, not to solve practical problems. These projects are evaluated internationally using peer review, and fewer than one in ten projects receive funding – they must be scientifically excellent.

Sedlenieks emphasizes that Melnis confuses FLPP with ministry-commissioned applied research or State Research Programs (VPP), where practical benefit is crucial. The goal of FLPP is to build Latvia's scientific muscle and make it globally competitive. He points out that many major world discoveries have arisen by chance or while working on fundamental problems without a practical aim.

The author also notes that Melnis chose to discuss social science projects because their titles seemed incomprehensible, but titles from natural sciences like "Astrochemistry of Dust from Different Materials" or "Role of Extracellular Vesicle-Transported snoRNAs in Breast Cancer Progression" would not be easier to understand. Overall, Sedlenieks calls for non-interference in the FLPP evaluation process, which is based on international scientific expertise.