Austria Citing Budgetary Constraints to Withdraw from CERN. (May 9, 2009)

"Nobody is happy about the decision," says Nikola Donig, a spokesman for the Austrian ministry of science. "We would have loved to stay in CERN, "But budgets are tight". He added that the budget, completed this last month, actually increases science funding but at the same time, private funding for basic research has dropped off dramatically since the start of the economic crisis.

In any case NatureNews reports:

"It is a black day for Austrian science," says Christian Fabjan, who heads the Institute for High Energy Physics at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. Fabjan says that he was "totally shocked" by the announcement, which was made on 8 May by Johannes Hahn, the science minister and a member of the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). Fabjan says the timing of the decision — roughly six months before the beginning of the LHC's first science run — couldn't be worse. "We have invested heavily in the construction of the LHC," he says. "It's bizarre."

Currently Austria has 173 scientists working at CERN. Under the terms of membership Austria participation would cease in 2010.

Mr Donig told NatureNews the decision is all about getting the greatest return for the government's money. "We want to fund fields where we can have more impact for businesses and universities in Austria."

However Professor Fabjan is unimpressed: "CERN is more than just an excellent laboratory," he says. In addition to producing world-class physics, the lab is a productive training ground for Austrian engineers, scientists and computer programmers.

The final decision regarding the withdrawl still requires the approval of Austria's government, parliament and the president. Mr Donig says the niceties will have been completed in the autumn — just about the time the Large Hadron Collider is scheduled for its restart.