Update on PPAN budget and grant funding

UKRI state, as they have repeatedly, that no decision has been made on how the STFC budget will be allocated across the STFC portfolio, including PPAN grants. UKRI has acknowledged anxiety within the PPAN community about the possibility of future grant reductions, and in January wrote to STFC grant holders to ask them to provide input on the potential impacts of different funding scenarios to ensure decisions are informed by stakeholders, these responses are being reviewed currently.

Science Board PPAN will review responses and then present scenarios and impact assessments, informed by financial modelling, to the STFC Council and Executive Board in June. Prioritisation principles will be scientific excellence, UK leadership, value for money and long-term health impacts on communities. STFC will then engage with UKRI and DSIT from June onwards.

The SIT Committee also questioned whether UKRI have considered moving PPAN funding responsibilities to another research council. UKRI says that, aside from STFC, the only plausible alternative for the PPAN portfolio would be Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC). However, due to concerns raised from the PPAN community about separating strategic facilities planning from grant-giving, this move was opposed during STFC’s creation. UKRI acknowledges that there are pros and cons to both councils overseeing PPAN and confirms that this question will be revisited with the community over the next three months.

Concerns over post-doctoral opportunities

The SIT Committee highlighted the concern over a decrease in the number of post-doctoral opportunities in particle physics theory due to a delay in issuing grants. The Science Minister, Lord Vallance, and Prof Sir Ian Chapman have acknowledged the delay in issuing grants was a mistake, and one that should not be repeated. UKRI says the relevant grants have now been awarded, with flexibility for universities to recruit out of cycle in 2026 or to carry posts forward into 2027.

UKRI has emphasised that:

• There will be no reduction in PPAN postdoctoral numbers across the Spending Review, when compared to the last financial year 2025/26. Approximately 20 theoretical particle physics postdoc grants have been issued so far, and there will be an opportunity to increase this number through awarding additional funding according to peer review. There will also be additional post-doc opportunities related to both quantum computing and AI.
• Training and skills funding within STFC is increasing.
• Developing early career researchers remains a core UKRI priority.

De-prioritised funding for CERN’s Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) 2030+ upgrade project

The SIT Committee asked for clarification as to why the LHCb 2030+ upgrade project has not been allocated funding in the infrastructure funding round.

UKRI stresses that the LHCb 2030+ upgrade project was one of four projects not to receive funding in this funding round, and highlights that this is the nature of competitive grant funding and does not stop the project from receiving funding in the future. UKRI has confirmed that, although the project previously received scoping funding, it was not prioritised for full funding following independent expert advice from the Infrastructure Advisory Committee and an affordability assessment. However, it has not provided specific justification as to why these four projects did not receive funding.

UKRI states that it has worked with DSIT to implement new governance procedures to ensure that all business case approvals consider whole life costs, project maturity and scale of investment. UKRI are also expecting a report from the Government Internal Audit Agency on completion of a review of these processes.

UKRI says they are continuing to engage directly with CERN leadership and has reiterated that the UK remains CERN’s second largest overall contributor.

Drayson partitions and subscriptions

Questions arose as to whether the ‘Drayson partitions’, intended to protect scientific researchers from cost pressures generated by facilities, infrastructure and international subscription costs, remain Government and UKRI policy.

UKRI stated that the Drayson partitions are intended to avoid inappropriate tensioning – when cost pressures arise in one research council, they should be dealt with by appropriate revisions in scope within that council. UKRI also clarified that the Drayson partitions have never been formal ring-fences of money, they are one of many budgetary tools that relies on overall costs remaining set by the spending review.

UKRI’s current position is that:

• PPAN grants should be tensioned against PPAN‑specific facilities and subscriptions, such as CERN and ESO.
• Multi‑disciplinary facilities and subscriptions should not be tensioned against a single research community.
• UKRI will absorb most of the cost pressure against its own activities, reshaping its portfolio and delivering efficiency savings, to live within budget.

Support for early career researchers

The SIT Committee flagged concerns over support available for early career researchers who are experiencing funding cuts and how UKRI intends to prevent more researchers leaving the UK.

UKRI stated that they commit to supporting early career researchers (ECRs) through continued engagement and by protecting key funding routes, including:

• Maintaining PhD studentships at current levels across the spending review, including 220 new Landscape Award (DTP) studentships per year.
• Continued support through apprenticeships, graduate placements, and industrial and summer placements.
• Funding opportunities across UKRI, including new priority programmes aligned with government R&D priorities, such as the £40m EPSRC Prosperity Partnerships, launched 12th March.
• Protecting post‑doctoral numbers throughout the spending review period as part of efforts to retain talent in the UK.

UKRI also responds to the Prime Minister’s comments made on 23^rd March at the Liaison Committee hearing that cuts to nuclear physics research “wouldn’t cut across what we want to do with either quantum or AI”.

Over the Spending Review period, UKRI will invest c.£1.6bn and £1.0bn on targeted research and innovation programmes directed at the AI and quantum sectors, investments which were not tensioned against PPAN portfolio. UKRI states that fundamental discovery curiosity-led research will be protected, and its budget will grow as the economy grows. This research supports the delivery of direct governmental priorities and UKRI states it does not see a risk in delivering on the priorities in AI and quantum.

Next steps

CaSE will continue to monitor communications between the SIT Committee and UKRI and provide updates to our members, as well as engaging directly with UKRI and Government.