It's a story that's repeated right across the spectrum of STFC cuts. The UK has a lot to lose by making these - comparatively trivial - cuts, and very little to gain. It's hugely damaging to the UK's international standing, and to its future economy.

It's going to be very hard for UKRI to stick to their mantra that there aren't any cuts at STFC, when the impact of "no cuts" includes closing the most iconic telescope in the country.

Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans@astroroyalscot.bsky.social · last wk.

I'm absolutely devastated for colleagues at Jodrell Bank who found out this morning that funding for the UK's e-MERLIN radio telescope array will be terminated. This is a short-sighted move, to save a tiny fraction of the overall UK science budget. #SaveJodrellBank 🔭🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Right then. 28 years later, here we are again. Bring on the Yellow Cowdenbeath! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇧🇷 #worldcup2026 #scobra

This is * insane *. STFC council minutes from December have been removed from their website, changed, and reposted. The new version rolls back on funding commitments made explicit in the initial version. I can't think of another adjective other than Trumpian behaviour.

Conor Fitzpatrick@fitzparticle.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Hi @ukri.org I see the minutes are back up, but have been modified. Dec 2025 Item 3.1 previously read: (1/n)

Enjoyed the celebration of Egypt's opening goal. You would have to say that he walked like, well...🎶 #WorldCup

Stars of physics are in Westminster right now to call on the Government to halt funding cuts to astronomy and particle physics research. Professor Brian Cox called them "inexplicable", urging the Government to instead "trust, inspire and continue to invest in the next generation of scientists".

Yep. Even 26 years on, if I hear the opening bars of Rock DJ by Robbie Williams, I’m instinctively going to ask if I can help you.

Rodger Sherman@rodger.bsky.social · 2mo ago

every person who has ever worked retail for even a week has at least one song they can never hear again without being involuntarily transported back to the store

Apparently a CIA official has done Johnny Cash's "One Piece at a Time" scam for real, but with gold bars instead of car parts. 😂

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2mo ago

A senior CIA official was arrested last week after investigators found hundreds of gold bars worth over $40 million stashed in his Virginia residence, a small fortune that he apparently brought home from work, according to court papers.

IOP President Paul Howarth and I have today written to Science Minister Lord Vallance calling for a full impact assessment of proposed STFC cuts to particle physics, astronomy and nuclear (PPAN) research.

How totally totally crass to find the destruction of the thousand careers of a thousand dedicated staff “exciting.” 1/3 www.timeshighereducation.com/news/notting...

Nottingham ‘would run out of money’ by 2031 without further cuts

Vice-chancellor defends deep job losses at embattled institution, insisting restructure will help it adapt to changed environment in higher education

timeshighereducation.com

"If you received an email from us (about xxxx), it was sent in error, so please disregard it." I did not receive any such email, but I'm now super-curious to know what it said...😂

I just sent this letter to the Science Minister and the CEO of UKRI concerning STFC's budgets

Cuts to UK Astronomy? It's all about the base(line). A short post on LinkedIn highlighting that the effective cuts to UK Astronomy funding are not some far off possibility - they have already started. www.linkedin.com/posts/profji...

Cuts to UK Astronomy? It’s all about the base(line). Responding to questions from the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, Lord Patrick Vallance (Science Minister) and Sir… ...

Cuts to UK Astronomy? It’s all about the base(line). Responding to questions from the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, Lord Patrick Vallance (Science Minister) and Sir I...

linkedin.com

If you really feel that "it is not right that other Councils (and disciplinary areas), EPSRC most notably, are called upon to make cuts towards the end of the financial year to meet overruns from STFC." then ponder the impact on EPSRC if STFC balanced its books by cutting funding to DIAMOND or ISIS.

Live footage of me after my last lecture of this semester...

a blurry picture of a man running down a staircase .

ALT: a blurry picture of a man running down a staircase .

media.tenor.com

Just discovered that the BBC are re-running This Life in full, starting this evening. 😀 It's definitely a product of its time, but I still think it's one of the best TV programmes ever made.

Wow. @pallabg.bsky.social has a obtained leaked document from STFC Council suggesting the origin of the STFC funding crisis was a deliberate decision (by?) 🧪🔭 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Possibly catchy but unnecessary: The new way of writing paper and proposal titles in astronomy. 🔭

Proud dad moment: the boy worked a Hamilton lyric into a homework essay. 👏🏻

Here is a copy of the open letter from the heads of physics departments across the UK- worth reading as it makes a lot of excellent points www.iop.org/about/news/o...

Don’t want to say the endless rain is getting to us, but the cycling club group chat has switched from which bikes are affordable or unaffordable, to which roads are fordable or unfordable. ☔️

Just encountered Captcha-style anti-robot measures on the NASA ADS search page. I guess it's a sign of the system creaking, presumably under the weight of endless scraping by LLMs. 😢 🔭

After spending more than half my life as an ex-pat, I sometimes wonder if I'm really still Scottish. But then I write "skoosher juice" on the shopping list, and I wonder less. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

This is yet another example where astronomers don't realise how good we have it. I do actually have a GS account, but the profile is private, and I haven't looked at it for many years. Everything we do is via NASA ADS, which is - and has always been - vastly superior to anything Google offered. 🔭

Hannah Shelley, MLIS (Metadata, Lattes & Impostor Syndrome)@hannahshelley.site · 12mo ago

Since search is dead, how soon do you think Google Scholar is headed for the Google Graveyard? I'm betting it's soon, and academia is NOT prepared

These cuts to physics research will be a disaster for UK scientists – and for our standing in the world www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

These cuts to physics research will be a disaster for UK scientists – and for our standing in the world | Jon Butterworth

If plans by the UK’s science funding body go ahead, we won’t be able to benefit from Britain’s membership of Cern and other large international projects, says Jon Butterworth, professor of physics at ...

theguardian.com

The PPAN budget gets a 30% cut, and Harwell gets an expansion plan.

Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 6mo ago

The Harwell Campus has announced a 25-year expansion plan, with better connections to Didcot and Wantage, a “walking first” campus, greater public accessibility, and new research buildings – including a brand new postgraduate Harwell Institute of Technology.

NASA ADS is still down? That's several days of patchy or no service now - starting to become a worry. 😬

The STFC Funding Crisis – Guest Post by George Efstathiou The following guest post by George Efstathiou is a response to the current STFC funding crisis I blogged about here, and specifically to a letter by the Executive Chair of STFC, Professor Michele Dougherty. I include the letter here for…

Open letter from Early Career Researchers to the UKRI investment plan. We can't let young people pay the price of "outcome-driven strategies". #stfc #ukri ecr-openletter-stfc.github.io If you are a postdoc or PhD, read and sign! 🧬🔭🔬⚗️🧪📡🛰️