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Daria Sokhan also argues there hasn't been proper consultation with the scientific community, and that the resulting impacts go beyond the EIC.

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EIC is one of several international physics infrastructure collaborations where UKRI pulled funding. Daria Sokhan makes point about damage to EIC from lost UK funding, and potential damage to UK's reputation as partner in international science.

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Powerful opinion piece about impact of UKRI pulling UK funds from Electron-Ion Collider project - US-based international facility for research into structure of matter - by Daria Sokhan, principal investigator on EIC-UK.

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Unusual to hear a Russell Group v-c talking in the terms Manchester's Duncan Ivison does in interview with @chrisjparr.bsky.social. He thinks scrapping the "massive, bureaucratic" REF should be on the table. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

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Fierce criticism of UKRI's decision to pull funding from upgrade of a detector on Cern's Large Hadron Collider. Tim Gershon, leader on the experiment, warns it will "collapse" the project and international partners could "end up just wasting their money".

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More on the impact of UKRI pulling funding from a major experiment at Cern's Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator. Experiment's leader tells @francesjones.bsky.social upgrade of LHCb detector is "essential" to maximising upgrade of LHC itself.

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Nice to see there is a credit for @resprofnews.bsky.social from the Financial Times, recognising the first reporting of UKRI shelving UK funding for international physics infrastructure including upgrade to detector at Cern's LHC. www.ft.com/content/e315...

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Nature sums up 3 elements of UKRI funding changes: MRC/BBSRC grant pauses; STFC cuts; infrastructure deprioritised. Shame there's no credit for @resprofnews.bsky.social which first revealed all three! Stellar work by @francesjones.bsky.social @robinbisson.bsky.social @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social

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But is the bigger question on reproducibility about AI? @elisabethbik.bsky.social says there is a definite crisis "when it comes to paper mills and artificial intelligence-generated crap".

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Meanwhile, @ludowaltman.bsky.social argues there is too much emphasis on individual studies and trying to replicate them - when society needs "evidence synthesis" from science.

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Is notion of a reproducibility crisis in science "exaggerated"? After ERC's Maria Leptin suggests just that, @fionamcintyre.bsky.social talks to those studying the issue. To judge whether there's a crisis, we would need to know "normal" level of reproducibility, says @martmichaelis.bsky.social

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Government chief scientific adviser's comments, reported by @resprofnews.bsky.social, anger Dominic Cummings on another site. He sees "decline is good not just inevitable" attitude "widespread in Westminster and academia". Her quotes in context: www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Here's the @resprofnews.bsky.social piece referred to in that FT column. Cassidy Sugimoto, professor of public policy at Georgia Institute of Technology, warning Trump science cuts could mean China overtakes US on research spending in 2025. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-worl...

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Mass academic job losses putting spotlight on REF rules that allow universities to take credit for work of staff they make redundant. Here's what one academic told @chrisjparr.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

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International student levy talk in the spending review document: Treasury mentions "intention to explore introducing" a levy on international student fees. Which would support "upskilling the domestic workforce". Ie. sounding like the money could be taken from universities, then go elsewhere.

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And £1bn for Aria over the four-year spending review period.

Within that R&D budget, news of £500m to go on research funding link to Labour govt's five missions.

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

Some slightly different numbers on R&D budget in the spending review document: £22.6bn by 2029-30, rather than £22.5bn trailed. And positive sounds on association to EU's Horizon Europe successor.

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There are some huge potential impacts for international science from the new budget cuts for US NSF planned under Trump admin, including for Ligo facilities observing gravitational waves and Cern. Really valuable piece by Shaoni Bhattacharya on this. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-usa-...

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Govt doesn't seem too certain in white paper whether it wants levy on universities' international student fees to be reinvested in "higher education and skills system" or just "skills". Sloppy drafting, or something more?

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

We don't hear a lot from Patrick Vallance in public. So this FOI revealing his "R&D reform framework" that he's been talking about behind scenes is really interesting. Does it amount to taking more research policy functions back "in house" to govt? www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

More than half the universities in the Russell Group saw their gender pay gap - difference in earnings between women and men - widen this year. Via @chrisjparr.bsky.social. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Though the counterpoint to that argument is that Cambridge is already the fastest-growing city in the UK - and there are infrastructure limits on how much faster it can be expected to grow. www.centreforcities.org/reader/citie...

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Yet UK ministers last week rejected calls to lower upfront visa costs for scientists, notes Freedland - citing @resprofnews.bsky.social article revealing that. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

This was pretty startling: warning that major journals are publishing papers produced at Ukrainian institutions taken under Russian control in invasion. Two Ukrainian academics urge publishing sector giants to "end de facto cooperation with Russia". www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-worl...

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Industrial strategy report from @russellgroup.bsky.social expert panel calls for extra Higher Education Innovation Funding to boost university spinouts, research commercialisation. Panel includes senior leaders from businesses including GSK, NatWest. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Upcoming immigration white paper could ease visa barriers for junior researchers without impacting net migration figures, immigration experts tell @sophieatrpn.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Call for R&D to be part of UK-EU "reset" talks in letter to UK PM and Commission president from science groups led by @russellgroup.bsky.social, seen by @sophieatrpn.bsky.social. Shows potential impacts for UK-EU relations from US science situation. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

UKRI hiring "challenge directors" to lead innovation programme on each of the Labour government's five missions. Shows UKRI working to fund research delivering "real benefits to citizens", or following "political slogan"? Via @francesjones.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Royal Society fellows meet today to discuss Elon Musk's membership - some fellows have told @resprofnews.bsky.social that fear of litigation is a factor stopping the leadership from expelling him. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...

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John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Academic publishers line up to warn against govt plans on AI and copyright: could allow for scraping of research by tech firms and "undermine not only scholarly publishing but academia more broadly". Via @sophieatrpn.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-o...

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Govt should "commit to a long-term plan for R&D" if it wants to achieve its missions, says @sciencecampaign.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

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At least 10 people are owed more than £15k by the Student Loans Company after overpaying their loans, with one person owed nearly £50k - @chrisjparr.bsky.social with some FoI digging. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Next UKRI chief exec Ian Chapman expected to "measure his success by what UKRI delivers rather than the number of universities supported and the number of academics active". Via @robinbisson.bsky.social @francesjones.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

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