Nuclear Physics Grants Panel 2025 Report Summary
Explore the Nuclear Physics Grants Panel Report 2025, covering the background, grant review process, round summary, panel recommendations, and conclusions regarding funding for UK NP research. Get insights on the budget increase, community size, and the efforts to secure funding uplift.
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Presentation Transcript
Nuclear Physics Grants Panel Report 2025 Community meeting Kieran Flanagan (Panel Chair) 9th January 2025
Outline of Presentation 1. Background 2. Grant Review Process 3. Grant Round Summary 4. Panel recommendations 5. Conclusion and overall recommendations 6. Updates
Background STFC along with the NP community have been working hard over the past few years to get two key messages across. 1. UK NP research is World-leading, exciting, and relevant with a strong international reputation. 2. UK NP is dangerously underfunded, has had proportionally larger cuts than other STFC areas, and desperately requires an uplift in funding. Balance of Programme exercise in 2020 600k a year or ~ 13.6% increase in resource. FEC increases and inflation have eroded our position
Grant Review Process NPGP Membership Cross-Community Requests 9 December 2022 Name Professor Kieran Flanagan (Chair), University of Manchester Dr Nara Singh Bondili, University of the West of Scotland Expertise Nuclear structure 16 January 2023 Initial NPGP Kick off meeting Closing date for consolidated grant proposals and Form X Nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics Hadronic physics and external perspective Nuclear structure Hadronic physics Nuclear structure Nuclear astrophysics Nuclear theory Nuclear theory and external perspective 7 February 2023 Professor Jens Jorgen Gaardhoje, University of Copenhagen Dr Liam Gaffney, University of Liverpool Dr David Hamilton, University of Glasgow Dr Marc Labiche, UKRI STFC Daresbury Laboratory Professor Alison Laird, University of York Dr Judith McGovern, University of Manchester Professor Morten Hjorth-Jenson Theory, Michigan State University USA / University of Oslo, Norway Reviewing process April mid May 2023 Clarification Meetings April 2023 Applicants to receive and respond to reviewer comments Mid May 2023 Peer Review Meetings June/July 2023 Science Board October 2023 Nuclear structure, astrophysics and hadronic physics Hadronic physics Professor Zsolt Podolyak, University of Surrey Professor Dan Watts, York A very big thank you to the panel members and STFC staff for the hard work that they have undertaken over the last year.
Grant Round Summary Budget: 19.0M +26.6% compared to 2020 Size of Community: 63 academics in both 2020 and 2023 (+9% since 2014) Number of Themes: -14% (33 in 2020 and 38 in 2017) Total Funding Request : +9% (~2.5x larger than the available budget) Process Panel members were asked to provide names of potential reviewers (129 received compared to 95 in 2020). Introducers: 2-3 panels members were assigned a proposal to examine in details. Introducers conducted clarification meetings to address any questions. Introducers then led the discussion at the grants panel meeting for their proposal. Each theme was discussed individually, with consideration for the requested resources to deliver programme.
Panel recommendations 2011 2014 2023 Measure 2017 2020 2023 Request Recommendation 46 52(58) 53 (65) 1 662 Academics Number (Requested) Academics - Average FTE 63 63 14.5% 29 18.3 8.3 11% 21 16.1 7.9 9% 6% 55% 48.53 41.24 4.5% PDRA Number 27 23 34 PDRA - Total FTE per year 18.2 19 25.0 Core Posts - Total FTE per year Cross Community - Total FTE per year Number of Studentships 6.8 6.5 11.1 9.4 12.1 10.3 11.3 10 12.8 11.8 2 - 1 3 2 6 3 2.1 Technician - Total FTE per year Total Number of FTE per year 2.9 3.9 8.1 5.2 47 43 46.7 44.3 108.9 54.3
Conclusion and overall recommendations All themes were fundable and ranked by internationally reviewers and internationally leading. Increased budget in this round is very welcome and will help repair the long-term damage done by a decade of flat cash. Increases in in-direct costs and inflation erode some of this impact. Reduced the amount of capital, travel and academic time that can be recommended. To exploit the long-term STFC investments through the project line priority was given to growing ECR numbers with PDRA posts. The pandemic has changed the way we conduct many experiments. The community must still travel to maintain leadership on key experiments.
Updates Over the last year the panel has continued to review small funding requests for conferences and short courses in the UK. The next round aims to be 4 years in duration and will use the funding service. This is process is under constant review and optimisation (CGs from PP and gravitational waves have now been through this). Submission for the next CG will be early 2026.
