The UK business secretary Vince Cable has announced there will be cuts to the UK science budget expected to be up to 25%.
Mr Cable has told academics they need to do “more for less”, and to be less reliant on government funding. He said there is no “justification for taxpayers’ money being used to support research which is neither commercially useful nor theoretically outstanding”. (Though how he defines “theoretically outstanding” I am not sure).
The size of the cuts are yet to be decided, and also which areas will be targeted. It could be large scale projects such as UK involvement in the LHC at CERN, or the neutron source at Appleton Rutherford. It could be a reduction in PhD studentships. Mr Cable has says he does not like the idea of “salami slicing” – taking small slices of money off everything – but some commentators think this could be the least worst option.
However the message is clear. There will be less money for research. Academics are either to look to industry to make up the shortfall, or defy the laws of physics and create more from less.
//Esther Crooks
