Royal Astronomical Society President Professor Mike Lockwood and President-Elect Professor Jim Wild recently had an opinion piece about the proposed cuts to astronomy and space science published on Research Professional News.
They argue that the UK will suffer lasting consequences from the disrupted talent pipeline. Here is the piece in full...
We are facing a research council funding crisis, and scientific careers are bearing the brunt of it. When a science budget is stressed, the way to balance the books is usually to reduce the ‘blue sky’ grants line. This short‑term accounting fix does lasting damage to career development and to the transfer of fundamental research into wealth creation and innovation.
The damage done to research by these repeating crises is self-evident: there is little point in providing world-class science facilities if you fail to bring through the first-class scientists who use them. The UK stands to lose far more than national prestige.
Major scientific facilities generate value through the teams that design, build and commission them, but also through the researchers who operate them and extend their scientific reach. The timescales of facility readiness and human capital development must be aligned. Major facilities take many years, often over a decade, to move from concept to full operational capability, and early career scientists typically take six to 10 years from starting a PhD to becoming fully independent researchers.
If we fail to support that pipeline of people during the long gestation of facilities, the UK will lose much of the knowledge transfer, skills diffusion and economic return such facilities are meant to enable.
Science graduates feed skills pipeline
Evidence shows that early career scientists trained on Science and Technology Facilities Council‑supported projects convert infrastructure, techniques and discoveries into innovation, economic growth and high‑value skills.
About 25 to 30 per cent of UK astronomy and physics PhD graduates move into the private sector, into roles in software, data science and operational research, bringing advanced analytical and computational skills to high‑growth industries.
The problem is that young scientists cannot develop these transferable skills if funding periodically dries up. They are forced either to leave science or to leave the country – and once they have left, persuading them to return becomes extremely difficult, especially if the financial support they need remains volatile.
This skills transfer is especially critical at times when the nation needs to meet major societal or economic challenges. A striking historical example is the deregulation and computerisation of the City of London’s financial markets in the mid‑1980s. The financial ‘Big Bang’ of 1986 created a huge demand for experienced and skilled computing professionals. In very large part, that need was met by individuals who had up to that point been involved in fundamental research and research computing.
Exploiting technology needs young scientists
We face an analogous situation with artificial intelligence. To exploit the opportunities AI presents and to help solve the complex challenges it poses, the UK will need people with deep understanding of machine learning, data analytics, model validation and systems integration. AI and machine learning are already widely deployed in fundamental science, and young scientists are learning how to use them safely and wisely. The same skills that drive breakthroughs in research are those that will be essential for national capability in the coming decade.
At the Royal Astronomical Society, we have tripled the number of fellowships we offer. This is a drop in the ocean compared with the scale of job losses faced from grant cuts; however, it is a gesture of our support for young scientists.
We have drawn inspiration from Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who donated the Breakthrough Prize she received for her role in the discovery of pulsars to set up a trust to fund young scientists from underrepresented groups. Jocelyn is a wise and insightful person as well as a brilliant scientist, and she understands the importance of supporting early career researchers. We hope that others can gain that level of understanding and wisdom before lasting damage is done.
Wealth creation in the modern world is about skills and innovation. Our immediate concern is to prevent the loss of a generation of young scientists. In the longer term, there is a clear need for structural change to stop this cyclical problem. After the 2008 funding crisis, then science minister Paul Drayson and others tried to put measures in place to prevent recurrence. That those measures were either abandoned or circumvented points to the need for more substantial reform of how UK research funding protects people and skills, as well as projects and infrastructure.
In recent days, MPs and peers have heard from science secretary Liz Kendall, science minister Patrick Vallance and astronomer royal and STFC executive chair Michele Dougherty. Vallance said he was “very determined” to protect astronomy and particle physics, and Dougherty wants to make the impacts of cuts to those sciences clear to UK Research and Innovation. We can only wish them well with those efforts – otherwise, we will lose a generation of talent and cede UK leadership in fundamental research.
Professor Mike Lockwood
President of the Royal Astronomical Society
Professor Jim Wild
President-Elect of the Royal Astronomical Society
ENDS
Media contacts
Sam Tonkin
Royal Astronomical Society
Mob: +44 (0)7802 877 700
Dr Robert Massey
Royal Astronomical Society
Mob: +44 (0)7802 877 699
Notes for editors
About the Royal Astronomical Society
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), founded in 1820, encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science.
The RAS organises scientific meetings, publishes international research and review journals, recognises outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 4,000 members (Fellows), a third based overseas, include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.
The RAS accepts papers for its journals based on the principle of peer review, in which fellow experts on the editorial boards accept the paper as worth considering. The Society issues press releases based on a similar principle, but the organisations and scientists concerned have overall responsibility for their content.
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