Jon Butterworth
Some thoughts after two parliamentary committee hearings
https://lifeandphysics.com/2026/03/08/select-committees/
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Select committees

Well, the fight to stop the decimation of particle, astro and nuclear physics continues. The House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology select committee session I mentioned in the previous…

Life and Physics
Mar 8 at 8:03amWeb
Show threadBashStKidMar 8
@jonbutterworth How would you say the balance between capital spending and revenue/opex spending was addressed?
I often think there are Treasury fingerprints on arrangements that bias towards buildings/equipment they can point to, and not to the teams and people actually doing the work.
Show threadJon ButterworthMar 8
@BashStKid this is one of the parameters, but I am not sure how crucial it is this time round. Interesting to note that the PPAN projects in the Infrastructure Fund, which I think is mainly capex, were big casulaties (LHCb-II and EIC).
Show threadRob LarterMar 8
@jonbutterworth My impression, coming a different area of UK science, is that the announcement by UKRI several months ago that funding structures are going to be overhauled has induced a kind of paralysis in the research councils while they wait for the detail to emerge.
Show threadJon ButterworthMar 8
@PoLaRobs yes. seems like they stopped the old system before the new one was in place. Question for me is will curosity-led and applicant-led research be protected across the board in the new bucket world? As I said in the SITC, maybe PPAN is just the canary in the coalmine...
Show threadRob LarterMar 8
@jonbutterworth
Despite assurances I can't see any way of avoiding a hit to curiosity-driven research if a large tranche of research funding is going to be directed to projects that support the government's industrial strategy.
Show threadRob LarterMar 8
@jonbutterworth
Furthermore, given the chance I'd be pleased to make the case that some of the areas of environmental science I'm most concerned about are essential to underpin resilience of the growth that is central to the industrial strategy. However, I fear that such research may be marginalised by a focus on obvious growth areas such as biotechnology and AI.