OTHER countries beware: the UK looks like an 鈥渦nreliable鈥� and 鈥渋ncompetent鈥� partner when it comes to science. That is the conclusion of a House of Commons committee investigating an 拢80 million hole in government funding for physics which saw UK scientists forced to withdraw from international projects such as the Gemini telescopes and the International Linear Collider.
In an incisive report, the committee heaps criticism on the body that imposed the cuts, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and particularly its chief executive, Keith Mason, for lamentable planning, leadership and communication. Yet it stresses that the government never gave the STFC enough money to fulfil the expectations made of it. John Denham, the minister responsible for science, has ordered a review of UK physics research. When that has reported let us hope he can find the money to repair the senseless damage to the nation鈥檚 research and reputation.
The committee identifies other worrying trends in political attitudes to science. It points out that government has allocated so much money to tackle fields it deems important, such as energy, technology and ageing, that the UK鈥檚 principal funding agencies 鈥� the research councils 鈥� will not be able to support the same volume or diversity of research as in the past. The committee likens this to micromanagement of the nation鈥檚 science budget.
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Worse, once the government鈥檚 changes are taken into account, all but one of the research councils will have less money to spend on their own priorities. This does not say much for a government that trumpets its support for science.