Curiosity-driven analysis “cannot suffer” from price range pressures, science minister tells Lords committee
UK Research and Innovation should find a approach to protect its particle physics, astronomy and nuclear grants programme, science minister Patrick Vallance has mentioned.
Speaking on the House of Lords science and know-how committee, Vallance insisted his “number one priority is protect and grow curiosity-driven research”, amid considerations over main reforms to UKRI’s funding programmes.
The Science and Technology Facilities Council supplies exterior grants for college researchers by way of its particle physics, astronomy and nuclear (PPAN) programme, in addition to working main nationwide science amenities.
Earlier this 12 months, Research Professional News reported that the council has to make cost savings of £162 million by 2029-30 as a result of spending on its amenities is about to outstrip its price range.
Speaking to the Lords committee on 3 March, Vallance mentioned that in earlier years, STFC overspending has “been absorbed by the other research councils”.
“So we need to fix that—we need to have a sustainable, proper, well-thought-through, structured way to fund the infrastructure,” he continued.
Options into account
Spending on amenities is placing strain on the price range for exterior grants, funded by way of STFC’s PPAN programme, with physics teams alarmed that reductions in spending would harm authorities effort to enhance financial progress.
However, Vallance informed friends he was “determined that UKRI must find a way to look after PPAN” and hinted that different analysis councils could possibly be concerned.
“All of the funding gets tensioned against something,” he mentioned. “So, either it gets tensioned against the rest of physics, which might be one way to do it, or you tension it against [the] Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.”
Vallance mentioned choices would lie with the heads of the analysis councils who have been “looking at that at the moment”. STFC has mentioned it should make choices on its cost-savings programme by the summer time.
Curiosity-driven analysis ‘cannot suffer’
Asked about a 30 per cent fall in funding for the PPAN programme, Vallance claimed there had been “no statement about a 30 per cent reduction”.
However, a January letter from STFC chief govt Michele Dougherty to the PPAN neighborhood said that the price range for exterior grants in 2026-27 was “likely to be around 70 per cent of what this budget grew to in 2024”. Meanwhile, the amenities price range is predicted to fall by 15 per cent.
A earlier adviser to STFC recently claimed that the analysis council had “chosen to prioritise” funding for its amenities over defending exterior grant funding.
At the Lords committee listening to, Vallance went on to say there has “always been this sort of tension between the research projects and the facilities” at STFC and that “there’s something that needs to be resolved there”.
“What I’ve been clear about with UKRI, and I’ll be clear about it here, is the thing that cannot suffer as we try and work out how to get this funding right across the facilities is the basic, curiosity-driven, investigator-led research…that needs to be protected,” he added.
‘Poor’ comms
Vallance additionally addressed wider considerations about reforms to UKRI’s funding. Asked concerning the “wealth of correspondence” the committee had acquired from involved scientists, he mentioned communication from UKRI had been “poor”, including that “I think we can all agree that has not been done well at all”.
UKRI chief govt Ian Chapman has already apologised for the way in which communication concerning the modifications was dealt with.
Addressing considerations about pauses to some funding calls, Vallance mentioned the Medical Research Council would reopen its calls in May, at which level the council would set out “the totality” of its funding.