麻豆传媒

UK scientists are warning of a 鈥渃atastrophic鈥� impact on physics research due to budget cuts at public funding bodies. Research groups around the country face average cuts of 30 per cent, but have been asked to plan for up to 60 per cent.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a public body that funds science and business, under the control of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. It has announced a budget of 拢38.6 billion over the next four years, which it claims is actually a slight rise, though this doesn鈥檛 factor in inflation. But it has also warned that physics research is due for significant cuts.

UKRI spending is intended to further scientific research but also generate a return for the country. The organisation鈥檚 chief executive, , said in a press briefing on 5 February that the organisation was now focusing more on commercialisation. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a public body, in service of the UK public. The public should expect us to make those hard choices to make sure we make the biggest impact to the country, to grow our economy,鈥� he said.

The organisation distributes grants through nine councils, one of which 鈥� the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) 鈥� focuses on particle physics, nuclear physics and astronomy. This includes the budget for the UK鈥檚 contributions to CERN and the European Space Agency. It is STFC that faces the bulk of the cuts, at a reported 拢162 million.

Recipients of STFC funding have been told by the body to expect cuts of 30 per cent overall, but were asked to draft different budgets with cuts of 20 per cent, 40 per cent and 60 per cent, , which called the news a 鈥渄evastating blow for the foundations of UK physics鈥�.

IOP president-elect Paul Howarth said in a statement that the cuts would harm 鈥渉uman understanding of the universe and human progress鈥�. 鈥淭he Large Hadron Collider alone has informed our fundamental understanding of the universe and the matter it is made of. Accelerators developed for particle physics are used in X-ray facilities and new cancer treatments,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his cut in UK funding will hold up advances in its experimental capability, which will mean less innovation and ultimately less economic growth. We urge the government to step back and consider how its new funding strategy will impact UK science.鈥�

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, executive chair of STFC, said in a briefing that the organisation had been too ambitious about what it wanted to achieve in previous years. 鈥淲e鈥檙e spread much too thinly, we鈥檙e trying to do too many things,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a difficult couple of years in front of us. We simply don鈥檛 have the money to do everything.鈥�

Dougherty admitted in the briefing that international collaborations on particle physics were coming to an end and that hard choices were being made. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a message that our international partners understand. They too are under financial constraints,鈥� she said.

at King鈥檚 College London says the cuts tarnish the UK鈥檚 reputation among international scientific collaborators. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the way forwards for international collaboration, and it risks labelling the UK as an unreliable partner,鈥� he says. 鈥淧eople are going to say, 鈥榃ell, look, how do we know that Perfidious Albion is actually going to do what it says it鈥檚 going to do?'鈥�

An LHC experiment known as LHCb, which is investigating differences between matter and antimatter, will have its budget cut to zero, says Ellis, which jeopardises plans to upgrade the detectors. that the US-led Electron-Ion Collider, being built at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York state, is another affected project.

鈥淚nternational partnerships are crucial for research and innovation, and UKRI remains committed to our existing international obligations 鈥� including as the second largest international contributor to CERN,鈥� said a statement issued by UKRI.聽鈥淔ollowing the spending review聽that gave UKRI a record four-year settlement to deliver a new mission, UKRI聽is reforming to align with national priorities. At the same time聽curiosity driven research will continue to make up around 50% of our funding.鈥� It added that a decision about future infrastructure projects being funded will be announced shortly.

Ellis says the wider cuts to physics research could have long-term implications for the UK, as postdoctoral and junior researcher positions will be lost. 鈥淲hat you risk doing is cutting a whole generation of our young researchers off at the knees,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to be a minor effect.鈥�

at the University of Surrey, UK, warned that the impact of the cuts would reduce the knowledge, skill and experience available to run the country鈥檚 nuclear industry, as well as affect general research. 鈥淭hese proposed cuts are going to be devastating for our community,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f this goes through, the impact on the core programme will be catastrophic.鈥�

at the Campaign for Science and Engineering, which represents UK research bodies, says UKRI has made mistakes in how it communicated the cuts, which led to significant confusion and uncertainty. 鈥淩egardless of the rationale behind the decision to make savings in the STFC budget, which we do need further clarity on, the impact is the same,鈥� she says. 鈥淪TFC facilities support all research in the UK, not just that in the physical sciences. Less money for them could undermine a critical part of our research infrastructure.鈥�