Confirmation that Jodrell Bank Observatory has lost funding (via the e-Merlin project) under STFC cuts, as first reported by RPN in early July www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Jodrell Bank's Lovell telescope faces axe in science cuts, BBC understands

Astronomers warn it would tear the heart out of UK science, and leave a generation untrained.

bbc.co.uk

Robin Bisson@robinbisson.bsky.social · 4w ago

For 6 months the line from DSIT & UKRI on STFC cuts has been that no final decisions have been taken That is no longer the case, after DSIT approved UKRI's proposal for how to save £162m British research at Cern will be hit, along with UK science facilities Scoop by me & @francesjones.bsky.social

Update #2 The Labour business relations team (part of Labour HQ) have said McDonald is the science minister Somewhat bizarrely, DBT won't confirm Nonetheless, seems pretty nailed on... Story updated: www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Chris McDonald to be UK science minister, Labour HQ says - Research Professional News

MP appointed to new business and science department has industrial research background

researchprofessionalnews.com

Robin Bisson@robinbisson.bsky.social · 2w ago

Since the piece below was published, McDonald has been appointed as a minister of state in DHSC Would seem plausible to combine the responsibility for research and innovation in both DBIST and DHSC. Preet Kaur Gill, who was previously health innovation minister in DHSC, has also left the government

Since the piece below was published, McDonald has been appointed as a minister of state in DHSC Would seem plausible to combine the responsibility for research and innovation in both DBIST and DHSC. Preet Kaur Gill, who was previously health innovation minister in DHSC, has also left the government

Robin Bisson@robinbisson.bsky.social · 2w ago

Since Patrick Vallance resigned on Monday the question has been who will replace him as science minister It looks like the answer is Chris McDonald He has the chops: - chemical engineering degree from Cambridge - CEO of materials research institute - industry adviser to unis - Fellow of RAEng

Since Patrick Vallance resigned on Monday the question has been who will replace him as science minister It looks like the answer is Chris McDonald He has the chops: - chemical engineering degree from Cambridge - CEO of materials research institute - industry adviser to unis - Fellow of RAEng

Chris McDonald in frame to be UK science minister - Research Professional News

MP appointed to new business and science department has industrial research background

researchprofessionalnews.com

Chris McDonald the frontrunner to be next science minister, reports @robinbisson.bsky.social. Strong background in industry research: former laboratory manager in Tata Steel’s research division and chief executive of Materials Processing Institute. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Chris McDonald in frame to be UK science minister - Research Professional News

MP appointed to new business and science department has industrial research background

researchprofessionalnews.com

Another way to look at these new figures is how much STFC spending will fall compared to forecasts, after the prioritisation exercise While spending was forecast to be £684m over budget across 4 years, with the transitional money shifted from other councils STFC will be trimming spending by £549m

Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · 2w ago

The shortfall in the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s budget compared with its forecast costs is more than four times the figure previously thought. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Burnham's decision to abolish Dsit has taken some flak from science leaders. But big picture behind it is Burnham's vision on the economy - in particular on remedying the legacy of Thatcher-era deindustrialisation. This may mean controversial changes on balance and geography of research funding.

Almost exactly 6 months ago, RPN was leaked a document presented to STFC staff that said the council had to reduce spending by £162m by 2029-30 That kicked off months of debate on how cuts would be made But only now has it become clear the total cost savings needed over 4 years is in fact £684m 🧵

Very clear from Burnham in this written statement to parliament that science has gone into the business department for "commercial application and job creation" Signal of a longer term rebalancing of the science budget towards applied research? questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-stat...

Is the demise of the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology really the disaster that some commentators are suggesting? The nice people at @resprofnews.bsky.social gave me the space to explain why it really isn’t: www.researchprofessional.com/news-article... #scipolicy

Paul Nurse (Royal Soc president) got in early on the Today prog this morning to say Burnham should recognise science “isn’t simply a slave to business and trade” Reynolds said later on Today that “in no way will science be a secondary issue—it will be at the forefront of the business department”

Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · 2w ago

UPDATED: Jonathan Reynolds named science secretary as Dsit abolished. Plus, role of artificial intelligence minister elevated to a cabinet position with Kanishka Narayan continuing in the role. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

So it's official, DSIT is no more Jonny Reynolds is secretary of state for...DBIST? BIST? The officials will have to be called BISTOs... x.com/i/status/207...

UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) on X

Jonathan Reynolds has been appointed Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.

x.com

There was a line in UKRI's strategy on Monday that was easily missed, and sounds somewhat innocuous, but I think signals quite a shift for UK research funding By 2030, the funder expects to have completed reform of Research England's quality-related research funding formula 🧵

So, today UKRI announced decisions on how cost savings will be made at STFC Or at least they partially did Some big facilities in the UK will be scaled back/mothballed (as we reported on Tuesday) But there are still unknowns about the Particle Physics, Astronomy, and Nuclear Physics programme 🧵

Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · 4w ago

Updated: Major science facilities to be scaled back. UKRI has confirmed cuts at major domestic science facilities over the next four years, despite providing £135 million in extra cash to “avoid” harsher cutbacks. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Concentrating UK research in fewer unis is, predictably, a divisive idea Birmingham VC Adam Tickell acknowledged that “everyone would hate me for saying this” but that, amid an AI-fuelled grant surge, such concentration is "going to work better because there is never going to be enough money" 🧵

Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · 4w ago

Concentrating research in fewer UK universities splits vice-chancellors. Birmingham leader’s call to focus on 20-30 institutions amid surging applications contested by fellow VCs. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

For 6 months the line from DSIT & UKRI on STFC cuts has been that no final decisions have been taken That is no longer the case, after DSIT approved UKRI's proposal for how to save £162m British research at Cern will be hit, along with UK science facilities Scoop by me & @francesjones.bsky.social

UK research at Cern to shrink as government approves STFC cuts - Research Professional News

Exclusive: Science department approves UKRI’s cost-saving proposal, with major UK facilities also facing cutbacks

researchprofessionalnews.com

UK research at Cern to shrink as government approves STFC cuts. 🚨Exclusive: Science department approves UKRI’s cost-saving proposal, with major UK facilities also facing cutbacks. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

UK research at Cern to shrink as government approves STFC cuts - Research Professional News

Exclusive: Science department approves UKRI’s cost-saving proposal, with major UK facilities also facing cutbacks

researchprofessionalnews.com

UKRI has put its money where its mouth is on improving the lot of postgrad research students, hiking up the stipend multiple times in recent years But inevitably this has put pressure on how many new PhDs it can fund each year - there has been a 22% drop over a decade, even as funding has risen 🧵

Some bleak news today

John Morgan@johnmorgan3.bsky.social · last mo.

Very sad to be sharing this news: Research Professional News to discontinue publication at end of 2026. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-o...

‘Bravery’ needed to ditch grants for individual researchers. Research on Research Institute urges shift to institution-level funding and move beyond “laissez-faire” research system. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

‘Bravery’ needed to ditch grants for individual researchers - Research Professional News

Research on Research Institute urges shift to institution-level funding and move beyond “laissez-faire” research system

researchprofessionalnews.com

The official statement on this from the Research Funders Policy Group was published today: wellcome.org/about-us/pos... Noteworthy that they say only "enterprise data protected" AI tools will be used in processing grant applications (i.e. not the free ones..)

Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Major UK research funders green light AI for processing grant bids. Stance on generative AI softens, but final funding decisions still taken “by humans”. Latest from #ARMA2026. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

The process of deciding how to cut costs at STFC by £162m is reaching its endgame The ball is now firmly in the government's court. As @francesjones.bsky.social reports in today's Research Fortnight, an impact assessment of the cuts has been sent to DSIT It appears not to make pretty reading 🧵

Another massive ERC win for the UK in the latest round of Advanced Grants - showing last year was no fluke There are suggestions the UK should look at trying to just join pillar 1 of FP10 because it performs so well in winning ERC/MSCA grants Is it possible the EU would let it though?

Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · last mo.

UK institutions have achieved striking successes in the latest round of the European Research Council Advanced Grant scheme. Some 62 of the 319 grant winners will carry out their work in the UK. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Some interesting subtext in comments from the leaders of 2 new publicly-funded UK AI labs David Barber at UCL says current AI models “suffer from basic issues such as inaccurate responses to questions” and developing alternatives “will reduce dependency on the small number of model providers” 1/2

Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · last mo.

UK invests £60m in two university-led AI research labs. Minister makes case for “forward-facing” academic research infrastructure. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Lots of important insight in this from @johnmorgan3.bsky.social Not least this from @richardaljones.bsky.social: “The Manchester success story is real—there is a productivity increase” Starmer was criticised for lacking a clear economic plan Will devolved R&D be part of Burnham's alternative?

Could Andy Burnham deploy R&D ‘Manchesterism’ across the UK? - Research Professional News

Starmer resignation spotlights ministers’ futures and potential for R&D funding devolution under a Burnham premiership

researchprofessionalnews.com

I spoke to @resprofnews.bsky.social about what a Burnham premiership could mean for R&D, regional innovation and the future of DSIT. Thanks to @johnmorgan3.bsky.social for the conversation. LINK: www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Could Andy Burnham deploy R&D ‘Manchesterism’ across the UK? - Research Professional News

Starmer resignation spotlights ministers’ futures and potential for R&D funding devolution under a Burnham premiership

researchprofessionalnews.com

DfE to spend extra £230m on bolstering university finances. Education secretary says her department will lay out plans for increased higher education spending “shortly”. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

DfE to spend extra £230m on bolstering university finances - Research Professional News

Education secretary says her department will lay out plans for increased higher education spending “shortly”

researchprofessionalnews.com

An important line to come out of the PAC hearing (notwithstanding Rupert Lowe) was from Ian Chapman on the £5.6bn repair backlog for university research infrastructure Chapman said "the portfolio of things we want to maintain is smaller than that number" i.e. days are numbered for some of it

Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Rupert Lowe criticises research spending at ‘woke’ universities. UKRI leader rebuffs hard right MP saying investing in infrastructure via universities is “a problem”. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Another moment this week where populism collided with research policy Restore are a hard right fringe, but Rupert Lowe is now on the Public Accounts Committee and used his position to suggest research spending could be "disappearing into a woke university abstract experiment"

Rupert Lowe criticises research spending at ‘woke’ universities - Research Professional News

UKRI leader rebuffs hard right MP saying investing in infrastructure via universities is “a problem”

researchprofessionalnews.com

Robin Bisson@robinbisson.bsky.social · 2mo ago

There's growing unease that the UK's political consensus on support for R&D is fraying, and the rise of populism could break it altogether In our lead Research Fortnight story today, the new president of the Royal Society of Biology, Melanie Welham, warned “political buy-in could weaken” 🧵

There's growing unease that the UK's political consensus on support for R&D is fraying, and the rise of populism could break it altogether In our lead Research Fortnight story today, the new president of the Royal Society of Biology, Melanie Welham, warned “political buy-in could weaken” 🧵