Proposed cuts at STFC “counterproductive and damaging”

Research Professional has reported that staff at the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) have been told in a presentation by management that the Council is to face a substantial cut to its budget. There will be a 30% cut in funding for particle physics, astronomy, and nuclear.

The STFC is a part of UKRI and provides external grants for researchers at universities through its particle physics, astronomy and nuclear programme. It also supports large-scale science facilities such as the UK’s major particle accelerator, alongside a network of national laboratories.

STFC has sites in Daresbury, Swindon, Harwell and Edinburgh as well as a lab in North Yorkshire and an observatory in Hampshire.

Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect, said: 

“At a time when the UK government has put R&D at heart of its industrial strategy, cuts of this kind are counterproductive, damaging and risk our future as world leader in science. Large cuts to particle physics, astronomy and nuclear seem particularly short-sighted given the importance of these areas to our national priorities such as defence and energy.

“The UK research ecosystem has been systematically underfunded for decades. If we truly want to be a world leader in any kind of science we need to be prepared to make substantial long-term investments, not a boom-and-bust cycle where short-term pressures derail important research capabilities.

“Elements of the R&D infrastructure are collapsing, and the workforce is starting to look elsewhere for their future. If we don’t do something soon, we will permanently and irreplaceably lose vital skills and capacity.”