All That Matters

Bleak prospects

Today I take a break from my usual blogging on scientific research to highlight an issue of more immediate concern: the threat to the scientific infrastructure in the UK and elsewhere.

The 2007/2009 recession hit us all. Those that own houses had their value reduced. Those that are just about to finish university have to worry about possibly being part of a lost generation of highly educated graduates not being able to find employment. Those that always had to struggle making ends meet are affected by savings to government services and by problems arranging bank credits. And some of our governments now find themselves in deep budget deficits.

This is the broader reason why some governments, like the US, like Japan, like the UK, are now considering cuts to their budget. In the UK, the situation is particularly severe, and this is why here I like to focus on this example even though the same principles would apply elsewhere as well.

The UK government aims to implement a cut of 25% in overall government spending across all areas, even though out of a total annual government budget of about 670 billion pounds, science has only a share of 6 billion. The implications could be severe. A scenario where the science budget is cut by 20% has been described by a Royal Society analysis as “game over”.

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