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Funding shortfall threat for NE physics department

The North East’s only university physics department has told the Government that its work is at risk due to an £80m national research funding deficit. The Physics Department at Durham University, which employs nearly 100 research scientists, also fears its outreach work with North East schools may be under threat if the shortfall is not addressed.

Professors from the Department have written to John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, to express their concern at the £80m projected funding shortfall for the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which supports research work in particle physics and astronomy in the Department and other physics departments nationally.

More than half of Durham University’s research grant income for physics comes from the STFC. The focus for the particle physics and astronomy research at the University is the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics, which was opened in 2002 by Prime Minister Tony Blair and houses two world-leading research institutes for particle physics phenomenology and computational cosmology.

One of the signatories to the letter is Professor James Stirling FRS, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Durham University. He said that although Durham’s physics department was not immediately threatened, he feared that funding for certain key projects, including outreach work that involves thousands of North East children every year, might suffer.

He said: “We have a major schools outreach project which we set up on the back of our world-class science, particularly particle physics and astronomy. The type of work we do with schoolchildren, such as telling them how the Universe began, how galaxies and stars were formed, and what everything is made of, arouses their interest in science and contributes to developing our next generation of scientists.

“We feel this is a very important issue to raise at regional and national levels, and we look forward to hearing the Government’s response.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .