Up to 350 research positions at the CSIRO are being slashed to cut costs. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)Up to 350 research positions at the CSIRO are being slashed to cut costs. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAPWealthy benefactors could help fund areas of science beyond health, the head of Australia's national science agency says, following the organisation's painful job cuts. In November, the science agency said up to 350 research positions would be slashed as the "cost of doing science has gone up". The federal budget, handed down in May, set aside more than $387 million for the CSIRO over the next four years.