Dear Colleagues,

Many of you will have seen presentations at the recent annual IoP High Energy Particle Physics and Astroparticle Physics or Nuclear Physics Community meetings this month, or be aware of some of their content. We are emailing with a summary of the key points, and links to the content for these important sources of information.

There are four presentations of relevance, with slides available through the links. These are those from the Particle Action Group (PAG), Science Board (SB), Particle Astrophysics Advisory Panel (PAAP) and Particle Physics Advisory Panel (PPAP).

An incomplete timeline of the communication and prioritisation process (PAG, Slide 4), shows a complex series of exchanges attempting to develop a clear picture of the funding situation.

In brief, some key issues highlighted in these talks are as follows:

Financial Pressure: the consensus appears to be that inflationary pressures and access to facilities (exchange rates & increased charges) have led to £136m and £50m increases in costs per year, respectively, compared to 2021/2022 (PAG, Slide 8). However, despite the communication described above, it is fair to say that we do not have a universally accepted, and clear, message.

Existing cuts: Some ‘cuts’ have been implemented across PPAN already, for example, delaying start dates for Astronomy Small and Large Awards, and reducing lengths of Particle Physics awards, as well as the pausing or complete withdrawal from many projects (SB, Slide 9). Particle Physics Experimental and Theory Consolidated Grants have both been reduced, Infrastructure funds cut and schemes ceased (PPAP, Slide 8), as well as significant reductions in Gravitational Wave funding (PAAP, Slide 7). Overall, data suggest a loss of 220-260 FTE/year for UKRI/STFC funded endeavours (PAG Slide 6 & 21).

Potential further reductions: a prioritisation process is underway with Projects (SB, slide 10) were asked to return descriptions of the impact of varying levels of reduced funding (flat cash with respect to FY 2024/2025, 20%, 40% and 60% with a viability threshold identified). This process is expected to yield decisions by June 2026 (PAG, Slide 4).  The criteria for this prioritisation process have been given as scientific excellence, demonstrable UK leadership, value for money, and balancing impacts and long-term health on communities (see statement from Michele Dougherty below).

Alternatives: tensioning/combining PPAN budgets against/with other areas, such as suggestions of combination of certain areas with EPSRC risks unfair and challenging comparisons (SB, Slide 10).

Outlook: PPAN covers a world-leading, diverse, often long-term, portfolio of research with many areas being built up over long periods with significant investment. Current and planned cuts would compromise or completely destroy this internationally recognised UK leadership. STFC itself is also under pressure to reduce costs, where it is already under-resourced in terms of the community it supports.

Some welcome news on Early Career Researcher funding was posted in Michele Dougherty’s update, stating a commitment to `..maintaining postdoctoral researchers across PPAN at least at the same level as last year (financial year 2025 to 2026) and hope to be able to increase this over time. This will enable us to fund more postdoctoral researchers than have already been awarded for 2026…’, leading to a restoration of funding levels for astronomy grants and consolidated grants to their 2025/2026 financial year levels. Additionally, top-up funding will be provided to redress the 30% reduction in particle physics awards for the 2026 postdoctoral recruitment round. However, it should be noted that these levels already represent a reduction on previous years (e.g., SB, Slide 7, and Mark Sullivan’s 2025 AGP report).

The Astronomy Advisory Panel (AAP), along with the other Advisory panels, is continuing to try and connect our community with the key decision makers, and to bring community feedback into the process. Please reach out to us either directly or through the AAP contact form. Further information on upcoming Astronomy focussed engagement will follow shortly.

Kind regards,
Nathan Mayne & Aprajita Verma, on behalf of the Astronomy Advisory Panel.