More than 500 early career researchers have warned that the UK will lose a generation of scientists after significant cuts to physics projects and research facilities were announced. Scientists working in particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics have been told their grants will be cut by nearly a third, with project leaders asked to report on how their research would fare with cuts of up to 60%.
The UK has also shelved plans for four large infrastructure projects to save more than £250m, including an upgrade to a detector on the Large Hadron Collider at Cern and an electron-ion collider being developed with US researchers. The cuts are landing on physics grants as UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) seeks to “do fewer things better” and prioritise applied research over fundamental science.
In an open letter to UKRI chief executive Prof Ian Chapman, the researchers wrote: “The present combination of uncertainty, delay and re-prioritisation in early career pathways risks the loss of a generation from the UK research and industrial ecosystem.” Dr Simon Williams, a postdoc at Durham University, said he is increasingly likely to take up a position in Germany because of a lack of stable opportunities in the UK.
Dr Claire Rigouzzo, a researcher at King’s College London, has accepted a post in Europe amid the shortage of UK academic positions. “Morale is extremely low across the board,” she said. Another King’s researcher, Dr Lucien Heurtier, will come to the end of his contract in September and has started looking for jobs in China. Prof Catherine Heymans, Scotland’s astronomer royal, warned that the UK may have spent heavily on overseas projects such as the Rubin Observatory in Chile but could have no UK astronomers to work on them.
The Science and Technology Facilities Council needs to make £162m in savings by 2030 after rising electricity costs and foreign exchange rates. Prof Mike Lockwood, president of the Royal Astronomical Society, urged the government to step in to prevent a “catastrophe”, warning: “You lose a whole generation.” Chapman defended the moves, saying: “When you make choices there will be some things that miss out, but when you don’t make choices, everybody misses out.”
