Janez Potocnik, the European Union Science and Research Commissioner, has urged academia to do more to research alternatives to animal testing. Speaking at the annual conference of the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing, he said noted the existence of only four professorships in alternative testing in the whole of the EU. The European Commission is funding two projects to the tune of E24 million (£17 million) to investigate novel, alternative testing strategies in pharmaceutical research.