Postdoc cuts on hold as under-fire STFC announces extra funding
A UK research council criticised for cutting support for postdoctoral researchers is releasing “top-up funding” to allow for further early career appointments.
In an open letter published on 14 April Michelle Dougherty, executive chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), acknowledged the funding body had caused “uncertainty” in the two months since it announced plans to make £162 million in savings by the end of 2030 – particularly about how it funds research in particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics (PPAN).
It follows communications in which principal investigators were asked to consider how they would respond to cuts of between 30 per cent and 70 per cent as part of the “PPAN prioritisation process”.
In an email sent on 23 March, particle physics research leaders were also told “constraints of the current financial climate” meant the amount available to fund postdoc positions would fall by 67 per cent from 41 postdocs a year to 19 a year over the next four years.
However, in her latest “community update”, Dougherty says more money would be made available after the STFC’s science board agreed to “commit to maintaining postdoctoral researchers across PPAN at least at the same level as last year (financial year 2025 to 2026) and hope to be able to increase this over time”.
“This will enable us to fund more postdoctoral researchers than have already been awarded for 2026, and there will be additional postdoctoral opportunities related to both quantum computing and artificial intelligence,” she continues.
She adds that “additional funding that restores astronomy grants and consolidated grants to their 2025 to 2026 financial year levels will also be subject to regular peer review, taking guidance from the relevant grants panel as to how to achieve the most efficient process for the rounds concerned”.
On cuts to postdoc positions for particle physics, Dougherty explains that “while grants with the previously agreed 30 per cent reduction are already being distributed to principal investigators at universities, we will make top-up funding available through additional funding streams to appoint postdoctoral researchers according to the ranked list already generated by the Particle Physics Theory Grants Panel for this round”.
These positions will be able to start on 1 October, noting it can take several months to appoint, Dougherty adds.
The update follows strong criticism from the House of Commons’ Science, Innovation and Technology Committee which has grilled science minister Patrick Vallance about the loss of postdoc places.
In her letter, Dougherty says she had recently met with early career researchers, alongside UK Research and Innovation chief executive Ian Chapman, to discuss the situation.
“I recognise that fixed-term and early career researchers bear disproportionate risk during periods of change, and that the loss of a cohort of talented researchers cannot easily be reversed,” she says.
“This has been covered extensively in the sector press, and we have received correspondence from a diverse range of people represented by the disciplines and facilities in which STFC invests.”
On the “ongoing prioritisation process”, Dougherty says she could “understand the anxiety caused by asking projects to model significant reductions” and explains the council’s science board was “reviewing engagement responses in March and April, drawing on inputs from advisory panels covering specific discipline areas”.
Its PPAN science board will “present scenarios to STFC Council and Executive Board in June, including impact assessments” which will “enable STFC to engage with UKRI and DSIT on options from June onwards”.
“As I have said from the outset, we are committed to listening to the community as we navigate the financial pressures ahead,” she says, adding that “within STFC we have been managing these pressures for some time already and our staff are used to trying to make the best use of tight funding envelopes.”