Physics and astronomy researchers in the United Kingdom have reacted with alarm to news that key government funding for particle physics, nuclear physics, and astronomy will be slashed by 30%. The cuts were announced in a letter to the affected research community from Michele Dougherty, executive chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which funds physics and astronomy research and operates large science facilities across the country.
According to the letter, the council will ask leaders of already funded projects to assess how their work would be affected under various levels of reduced funding, ranging from 20% to 60%. Some projects will likely lose all funding “in order to continue funding others at a sustainable level.” STFC had already reduced new grants in these fields by 15% last year.
In a statement, physicist and Royal Astronomical Society President Mike Lockwood called the cuts “a catastrophe for science” that will deter students from pursuing careers in the relevant fields and hinder the U.K.’s attempt to become a “science superpower.”
More: https://www.science.org/content/article/u-k-physics-community-braces-deep-funding-cuts
