UK SCIENCE FACILITIES FACE CUTS AMID £162M FUNDING CRISIS

Britain's world-leading science facilities face potential closure as the Science and Technology Facilities Council seeks to save at least £162m by 2029-30. The affected sites include the Diamond Light Source and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source in Oxfordshire, as well as national facilities at Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire. Managers at Diamond and ISIS have been asked to identify cuts of between 10% and 20% of their annual spending. The facilities collectively serve hundreds of companies and thousands of scientists in the UK and abroad.

The STFC's funding shortfall stems from soaring electricity and staff costs, alongside high foreign exchange rates tied to international collaborations including the CERN nuclear research laboratory near Geneva. The council aims to make most of the savings internally, but a portion of the cuts will fall on research grants. Brian Cox, a professor at the University of Manchester and television physicist, described the reduction in research grants as the "destruction of the future." The STFC operates and funds all of the sites under pressure.

Tom Grinyer, chief executive of the Institute of Physics, called on the government to consult the research community fully before proceeding and to slow down what he described as "once-in-a-generation changes to funding." He warned that moving too quickly risked doing "serious damage to the UK's scientific capability and international attractiveness." Grinyer identified Diamond Light Source and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source as crucial components of the UK's research and innovation infrastructure. No final decisions on closures or grant reductions have been confirmed in the source material.