To PPAN Community
Sent via email:
Date: 28 January 2026
Re: STFC – reprioritisation of PPAN investments
Professor Michele Dougherty
Executive Chair
Science and Technology Facilities Council Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Harwell, OX11 0QX
United Kingdom
Dear Particle Physics, Astronomy and Nuclear Physics (PPAN) community,
Context
In October, UKRI received its four-year budget from DSIT of £38.6 billion, rising to nearly £10 billion per annum by the end of the period, with details published in December. Set against a challenging fiscal backdrop, it is more important than ever to ensure that this level of public investment in R&D maximises economic and societal benefits to the UK public. From April 2026, funding will align with UKRI’s mission to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth.
Science Minister Lord Vallance and UKRI CEO Sir Ian Chapman have emphasised that curiosity driven research is essential and remains vital and will be protected and grow as the economy allows. Curiosity-driven research will be the largest component of UKRI’s portfolio across the SR period, with substantial investment and annual increases in funding for applicant-led research. Alongside this, UKRI and its councils will deliver more applied and targeted research towards strategic government priorities and innovation, with an intentional move towards a more cross-disciplinary, programmatic and outcomes-focus model. This applies across UKRI, including STFC.
This shift to a strategic, outcome-focused approach is the most significant change since UKRI’s creation and is in line with what was envisaged when UKRI was first created. This involves focusing investment across three priority buckets: Curiosity-driven research (investigator led and determined by scientists alone); Government and societal priorities; and supporting innovative companies; while also enabling and strengthening UK R&D – including talent, infrastructure, institutes and facilities. To meet these ambitions, a period of transition is underway across UKRI.
In response to STFC’s indicative allocation, UKRI will need to ensure that investments across the portfolio are aligned to a sustainable level over the Spending Review period. For STFC this means striking the right balance between long-term discovery science, our major national facilities, and applied research and innovation. To achieve this, we will need to focus our efforts on a more concentrated set of priorities, funded at a level that can be maintained over time. As part of this, STFC is reviewing its entire portfolio, including facilities and laboratories, to understand how best to deliver a sustainable programme for the future. Within the PPAN programme – now operating fully within STFC’s curiosity-driven research portfolio – we will need to model further adjustments, building on last year’s 15% reduction in new grants, to bring the programme into long-term balance. This prioritisation process will inevitably require some difficult choices. A more sustainable level for STFC's PPAN budget is likely to be around 70% of what this budget grew to in 24/25 off the back of steep inflation and rises in cost of operations in the last Spending Review.
That said, these difficult funding decisions should be viewed alongside emerging opportunities including new investments in digital infrastructure and compute, and future funding through other UKRI buckets, which could benefit the PPAN community.
As we embark on this process, we will work closely with our Council, Science Boards and Advisory Panels, which provide strategic scientific advice on, and the assessment of, the PPAN programme, including particle astrophysics, space science and the accelerator and computational requirements of the PPAN programme. Our Science Board (PPAN) has been asked to undertake a prioritisation exercise to guide our process of change. A similar process will follow for our facilities and labs.
UKRI and STFC will continue to monitor the health of disciplines and maintain flexibility to adapt investment plans in response to evidence, sector engagement and delivery experience over the Spending Review period. This includes the ability, towards the end of the period, to shift investment towards those areas and Research Councils delivering the greatest impact.
Next Steps: Preparing for Portfolio Adjustments
To manage the challenges ahead, we will need to make difficult choices between scientifically excellent projects, this will include ceasing or reducing investments in many of the projects that STFC currently supports in order to continue funding others at a sustainable level. To support a comprehensive appraisal of options, we will be asking individual projects within our PPAN portfolio to identify how their project would respond to flat cash and reductions of 20%, 40% and 60%, and also identify the funding point at which the project becomes non-viable. This will enable Science Board to advise on redistribution and optimise returns.
A separate proforma will be sent to Projects PIs shortly for completion by Tuesday 10 March 2026.
Where major changes to scope or schedule are proposed, we understand full plans may not be possible. Please work closely with colleagues in STFC National Labs departments where relevant to ensure joined-up planning and the most accurate possible estimates. As always, your STFC Programmes Directorate team will try to help with any detailed questions that may emerge.
I recognise this news comes after tough decisions on Infrastructure Fund projects before Christmas, which adds to concern. These decisions were the outcome of a structured UKRI-wide prioritisation process, which was heavily over-subscribed, informed by independent committee assessment and supported by DSIT.
We would deeply appreciate your support and input as we navigate this difficult process to ensure that public R&D investment is sustainable, delivers long-term value, and continues to underpin the UK’s world-leading research and innovation system. I hope that you can work with us to emerge from these challenges with a positive and future-proofed vision for STFC and the PPAN disciplines.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Michele Dougherty (CBE, FRS, FRAS)
Executive Chair, Science and Technology Facilities Council