- This topic has 27 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 3 days ago by
.
-
Posts
-
To help put this crass and shortsighted decision by UKRI into some perspective, the stated savings are £2.8 million per year. Three years after the closure, the country will have saved enough to pay for the new door for the House of Lords.
The UoM has a donation facility to support Jodrell Bank, reachable from the link in Jeremy’s post.
There has been quite a bit of activity there, with 278 pages listing donations when I went there a few minutes ago.
For context: subsidising the bars and restaurants at Parliament cost ~£6M a year.
Strangely enough, when I worked irregular and deeply unsocial hours at work no restaurants or bars were made available. Management suggested a packed lunch.
FT editorial published yesterday (2026/08/03) was supportive of rescue.
Attachments:
Jim Wild, RAS President, writes:
“The Royal Astronomical Society welcomes an upcoming debate at the Houses of Parliament about cuts impacting astronomy and encourages all Fellows to contact their MPs to urge them to attend.
It will take place on Tuesday 1 September from 1-1.30pm in Westminster Hall.
Last month it emerged that measures to address a devastating funding crisis will put a wide range of UK astronomy projects, facilities and international partnerships under severe pressure.
The recent warning that astronomy at Jodrell Bank Observatory could end has attracted significant public attention, but it is only one part of a much broader picture. Other internationally important programmes are also threatened, such as UK involvement in the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaiʻi, prompting serious concern from the RAS about the future strength and breadth of UK astronomy.
The consequences of the cuts are only just starting to emerge, and their impact will also extend well beyond astronomy, affecting other strategically important areas of UK science, including particle physics and nuclear research.
Intense lobbying from the RAS and leading scientists has undoubtedly helped soften the blow for UK astronomy, but the future is still bleak and the cuts so deep that more needs to be done to campaign for a re-think.
The latest analysis of the impact of the cuts across STFC-funded fundamental astronomy projects is 35 per cent, which sits uncomfortably against the headline figure of the 10 per cent budget reduction to projects quoted by UKRI and is much closer to the impacts originally feared at the beginning of the year.
RAS President Professor Jim Wild said: “The Westminster debate is a chance for us to continue to make our case.”
I have written to several of the Cheshire MPs, including the MP for Congleton where Jodrell Bank sits, about Jodrell and the cuts more broadly and have been assured of their support.
I urge others to write to their MPs.
Some promising news breaking
Terrible news just announced on the BBC website.
“All scientific observations at Jodrell are expected to cease on the 1 April 2028 unless alternative funding can be found.
The funding body, the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) agency, is expected to make a statement shortly.”
I changed the title of this thread not Jodrell Bank NOT closed following the PM’s statement.
However, news emerged from the government yesterday that throws this into doubt. The article “Jodrell Bank’s e-Merlin network still faces closure in 2028” suggests that the govt still upholds the STFC funding reductions.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.