UK “desperately needs physicists”, says science secretary, as price financial savings announcement looms
Liz Kendall has mentioned the funding crisis on the Science and Technology Facilities Council might have been handled higher, forward of an anticipated announcement on how price financial savings might be made.
MPs pressed the science secretary at a listening to of the Science, Innovation, and Technology Committee on 8 July. The STFC has been present process a six-month prioritisation train to resolve the place to make financial savings of £162 million by 2029-30, which have triggered deep concern among the many physics and astronomy communities.
“I’m not shy in coming forward and saying this could have been handled better,” Kendall mentioned. Her feedback follow criticism of UK Research and Innovation—below which the STFC sits—through the course of and an apology from the funder’s chief govt.
Kendall, whose place is unsure in a future authorities anticipated to be led by Andy Burnham, mentioned she wished “people to see how much we value this whole area, how important we think it is” and that the “bad handling” of the state of affairs had distracted from “the good things that the government is doing”.
No pre-announcement
Yesterday, Research Professional News reported that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Dsit) had approved prioritisation decisions made by UKRI for the best way to stability STFC’s finances, and that consequently British participation in analysis at Cern is ready to fall and there might be cutbacks throughout a number of UK-based services.
Kendall mentioned: “We will have to wait and see what the final decisions are…I really do understand why people are concerned, but also I cannot pre-announce things that have yet to be signed off, signed, sealed and delivered.”
Dsit described the ultimate resolution on the STFC financial savings as being all the way down to the UKRI board. Kendall didn’t reply immediately when requested by MPs if she would reverse last selections perceived to “put UK physics at risk”.
In the ultimate price saving measures, Kendall mentioned she was “sure that the number of PhD starts in this area will remain the same, the number of post-doctoral positions will remain the same [and] we will remain committed to our big international research projects”.
‘We desperately need physicists’
STFC govt chair Michele Dougherty has previously said postdoc numbers won’t drop decrease than the 2025-26 stage, although numbers had been already down on earlier years. RPN understands that to maintain this dedication, further financial savings have needed to be discovered from STFC’s finances for services and laboratories.
“I’d say to those people who are worried, and I understand that, I want more people doing physics in this country…we desperately need physicists and their expertise and knowledge in quantum,” Kendall mentioned, pointing to the federal government’s £2 billion funding within the discipline.
“I hope when the final decisions are taken, they will see our commitment to keeping Britain’s world-leading position here, and they will also see, not least through our commitment on these new technologies like quantum, that we value people in going into physics and this profession because they’re so important for the country.”