Higgs Boson breakthrough was UK triumph, but British physics faces 'catastrophic' cuts

## Summary
Behind the story is a row that has seen the science minister, Lord Vallance, and the head of Britain's scientific research funding agency accused of diverting money away from blue sky research towards government scientific priorities to help grow the economy. Williams and other physicists worry the physics budget has been cut because a reorganisation in the system of funding science has shifted money away from blue-sky to applied research. The three big buckets Earlier this year, the government body that funds science, the UK Research and Innovation Agency (UKRI), imposed a new 'bucket' system, under which money will now be put into three buckets: one for blue-sky research, the second for government priorities such as AI and quantum computing, and the third for helping businesses develop new products. He at first said it was not possible, then when pressed agreed to provide a written breakdown, which did not satisfy Onwurah. "The committee was very disappointed to learn that we couldn't actually track how that funding was changing. "(The breakdown) doesn't give us the level of detail we really need to be able to say, for example, is curiosity-driven research in particle or nuclear physics being cut or not." Adding to the mistrust is that just over 60% of bucket one funding - for blue-sky research - goes directly to universities, who can then spend it how they like.

## Article Content
Higgs Boson breakthrough was UK triumph, but British physics faces 'catastrophic' cuts
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Pallab Ghosh
Science Correspondent
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BBC
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When the Nobel Prize in Physics was announced in Stockholm in October 2013, the world was watching.
Among the names read out was Prof Peter Higgs, the British theorist who, nearly half a century earlier, had predicted the existence of a particle believed to hold the cosmos together – the Higgs boson.
The announcement, broadcast live from Sweden, was what many scientists had hoped for since a year earlier, when experiments at CERN had finally confirmed Higgs's theory by discovering the Higgs boson – hailed as one of the biggest discoveries in a generation.
At the time Higgs, who has since passed away, said in a statement: "I hope this recognition of fundamental science will help raise awareness of the value of blue-sky research."
Blue-sky research asks questions to understand the universe, rather than design new products. It is what British science excels at, leading to the discovery of the electron, the structure of DNA and the development of the first computer. All of them were without any practical application when they were developed or discovered, but each of them has since formed the basis of technologies that created multi-billion pound industries and transformed our world.
Getty Images
Peter Higgs was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics with Francois Englert in 2013
But now, Britain is preparing to cancel its contribution to one of the Large Hadron Collider's next major upgrades. It is one of several proposed cuts of UK involvement across various major particle physics and astronomy projects, which could see Britain's scientists reduce or even end their involvement in the most exciting international research collaborations probing the nature of our Universe.
For some, it is as if Higgs's words, celebrated back in 2013, were never uttered.
Behind the story is a row that has seen the science minister, Lord Vallance, and the head of Britain's scientific research funding agency accused of diverting money away from blue sky research towards government scientific priorities to help grow the economy. BBC News has a leaked document that suggests this has happened. Vallance and those leading UK science funding have continued to deny this.
And it cuts to an issue that lies at the heart of science: to what extent should researchers focus on so-called 'blue-sky research' (which has no specific purpose other than solving the Universe's great mysteries), as opposed to 'applied' research, which has clearer real-world implications in mind?
The bluest of blue-sky
You need both and you can't have one without the other, according to Dr Simon Williams, a theoretical physicist at Durham University. His research is the bluest of blue-sky: he uses quantum computers to predict how sub-atomic particles behave. His original aim was pure scientific understanding - but as it happens, his work is also now used by a British-based company.
He thinks that cutting original blue-sky research isn't just bad for scientists - it also harms the businesses that use it. "If the research is removed from the country, then I have a strong belief that the industry will be removed from the country," he says.
Simon Williams
Dr Simon Williams is a theoretical physicist at Durham University
Williams says he is among 30 young physicists who now can't get a grant to continue working in the UK this year because of cuts to funding. Many of them are the brightest scientists in their fields and may be forced to seek research jobs overseas or leave research altogether to make a living.
"You're killing the tree by removing the roots," he told MPs at a special hearing of the House of Commons Science Innovation and Technology select committee earlier this month. The committee is investigating the scale and impact of the proposed cuts announced earlier this year.
Williams and other physicists worry the physics budget has been cut because a reorganisation in the system of funding science has shifted money away from blue-sky to applied research.
The three big buckets
Earlier this year, the government body that funds science, the UK Research and Innovation Agency (UKRI), imposed a new 'bucket' system, under which money will now be put into three buckets: one for blue-sky research, the second for government priorities such as AI and quantum computing, and the third for helping businesses develop new products. It is the latter two that count as 'applied research'; these are the buckets the government thinks will drive economic growth.
At the same time, in February a 30% cut (of £162 million) to funding for particle physics and astronomy research was announced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Its head Prof Michele Dougherty told MPs earlier this month the cut was necessary because the Council had previously started projects it had no money

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- Higgs Boson breakthrough was UK triumph, but British physics faces 'catastrophic' cuts 17 minutes ago Share Save Pallab Ghosh Science Correspondent Share Save BBC Listen to Pallab read this article When the Nobel Prize in Physics was announced in Stockholm in October 2013, the world was watching.
- He thinks that cutting original blue-sky research isn't just bad for scientists - it also harms the businesses that use it. "If the research is removed from the country, then I have a strong belief that the industry will be removed from the country," he says.
- Many of them are the brightest scientists in their fields and may be forced to seek research jobs overseas or leave research altogether to make a living. "You're killing the tree by removing the roots," he told MPs at a special hearing of the House of Commons Science Innovation and Technology select committee earlier this month.
- The three big buckets Earlier this year, the government body that funds science, the UK Research and Innovation Agency (UKRI), imposed a new 'bucket' system, under which money will now be put into three buckets: one for blue-sky research, the second for government priorities such as AI and quantum computing, and the third for helping businesses develop new products.

### Areas for Consideration
- And it cuts to an issue that lies at the heart of science: to what extent should researchers focus on so-called 'blue-sky research' (which has no specific purpose other than solving the Universe's great mysteries), as opposed to 'applied' research, which has clearer real-world implications in mind?
- The problem, she said, was exacerbated by inflation and currency fluctuations.
- PA Lord Vallance has firmly insisted that curiosity driven science is protected and still growing But their problem is that they can't prove it because of the historically opaque nature of UKRI's accounting system.

### Implications
- At the time Higgs, who has since passed away, said in a statement: "I hope this recognition of fundamental science will help raise awareness of the value of blue-sky research." Blue-sky research asks questions to understand the universe, rather than design new products.
- It is one of several proposed cuts of UK involvement across various major particle physics and astronomy projects, which could see Britain's scientists reduce or even end their involvement in the most exciting international research collaborations probing the nature of our Universe.
- And it cuts to an issue that lies at the heart of science: to what extent should researchers focus on so-called 'blue-sky research' (which has no specific purpose other than solving the Universe's great mysteries), as opposed to 'applied' research, which has clearer real-world implications in mind?
- His research is the bluest of blue-sky: he uses quantum computers to predict how sub-atomic particles behave.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers research, science, physics topics. Notable strengths include discussion of research. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 2087.