Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans

Here is a copy of the open letter from the heads of physics departments across the UK- worth reading as it makes a lot of excellent points

www.iop.org/about/news/o...

Top academics warn UK physics cuts threaten effort to boost economy More than 50 heads of departments tell science minister that changes risk undermining crucial tech growth fields

"Planned cuts to physics and astronomy funding threaten to undermine a core UK government strategy to harness innovation to boost economic growth, leading researchers have warned ministers."

Thanks @financialtimes.com for covering this really important story

🗞️: www.ft.com/content/a235...

🙏🥰

🥳 excellent choice Mina!

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And then there is also "when does your project become unviable" question - less salami-slicing as the option for entire-salami-binning. ☹️

To be continued.....

4) What about AI? Love it or hate it, the UK needs talent to exploit opportunities & mitigate the complex issues that come with AI use.

👇Physicists know, use & develop AI. ~1/3rd of my research team have transitioned to work in AI over the last decade.

Source: www.iop.org/sites/defaul...

3. Why study in the UK? Well, we're really rather good at what we do.

Quoting URKI "The UK’s astronomy research programme is world class...deliver[ing] more highly cited papers than our close competitor nations (USA, Germany, Italy, and France)"

Source: committees.parliament.uk/writtenevide...

I should note that 👆study is an old one (2007), but some colleagues have carried out internal analyses of recent UCAS applications to study physics, reaching the same conclusion: PPAN is the primary reason that our undergrads decide to come and study Physics at University.

Particle and astrophysics shown in an image, with the tiny atom, followed by the solar system and then a massive galaxy, all on an awe-inspiring star-studded background.

2. Why do young people choose to study physics?

STFC/IoP report finds it's because they love the tiniest of scales (particle & nuclear physics) and/or the gargantuan (astro): 90% of those surveyed cite PPAN as their primary reason for studying physics.

Source: www.scribd.com/document/463...

A bar chart showing sustained grown in the number of physics related jobs over the last 15 years. The caption reads "Physics-related roles account for over 1.85m jobs in 2020: 1 in 20 jobs"

1: UK employers need and want physicists.

@iop.org study found 1 in 20 UK jobs rely on physics-related knowledge. The demand for physics skills and knowledge is growing fast and is becoming ever harder to meet.

Conclusion: We need to train more physicists.

Source: www.iop.org/sites/defaul...

Well, it's been a busy day prepping for my upcoming appearance in Westminster👇. The chocolate is all gone. This thread contains evidenced statistics to support the continued (not cut) funding for UK particle, astro and nuclear physics (PPAN). Thanks to everyone who contributed today! 🧵

Thanks for this Luke!

A good - the spots are back - didn't feel right for that one day when it was blemish free!

Indeed. The message we're hearing is "do less but better" but the "crumbs everywhere" model is kind of how astronomy works. If you don't look everywhere across the full EM spectrum you miss key pieces of the cosmos puzzle. That's a hard argument to sell though.....

💯🙏

👍🙏

Discussions are indeed taking place. Just read a whole document on UK astro -> industry and am in awe. How did I not know quite how transformative AO has been in so many sectors! (Having far too much fun learning all these facts btw)

Good point, and tear not - I wouldn't be me if I didn't slip in a little bit of awe and wonder into the proceedings.

Thanks Mike - super helpful. I can always rely on you for sound strategic planning advice!
I'm at the read lots of of reports phase and writing a lot of notes. Feeling really rather proud of the UK astro community - so much evidence to show they totally excel at all levels.

Thanks Angie - I fear I'm going to need it!

Thanks for this. Adding the web link here to the report incase anyone else wants to get into the details of this alarming warning call from the IoP

www.iop.org/about/news/q...

Ah perfect - thanks Brooke. Just saw mention of this in another STFC document I was reading and am now wondering how I didn't know about this already (apologies) - it's such a fantastic example of the UKRI mission to "advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth" - all 3 at once!

Super interesting! I now want to know more - could you point me some info on this project?

Perfect - thank you Christopher. Yes I read them all when I was preparing for the last time I was in front of this committee (although under the prev gov). But huge thanks for the timely reminder to go back to my old notes on this for a refresher!

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Well said 👍

Yes - this is exactly the kind of argument I need - yes we’re “blue sky research” but boy do we have wide and broad impact down the line 🙏

🙏 <beams with pride>