It’s a spiritual thing
A body thing
A soul thing

Job Vacancy at Universities UK: Policy Officer We are looking for a person that is passionate about making a difference to join the Universities UK policy team. We shape the future of higher education, which changes the lives of students, graduate...

New Policy Officer role at @universities-uk.bsky.social. You’ll work on research policy, UKRI changes, and the big questions like 'which bucket is this in?' with a straight face: www.uukjobs.co.uk/Vacancy.aspx... Deadline: 1 May

I believe in the year 2026 that schools could offer their term/inset dates as calendar files and not PDFs on the website.

Wellcome calls for simpler and faster association to FP10 - Research Professional News EU R&I programme must continue to provide value for money to associated countries, funder emphasises

Wellcome calls for simpler and faster association to next EU research and innovation programme

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Realised today that my 8yo might not have heard the classic “Doyouthinkhesaurus” joke yet. She loved it. 100% dad joke heaven 🦖

A small Southern Rail sticker over a scanner at a ticket gate. Text reads simply “Sorry, I am broken”

Mood

Wellcome’s flagship genetic campus seeks missing transport link Facility near Cambridge is undergoing ambitious expansion — but faces logistical challenges

“The scientists at the Wellcome Genome Campus are aiming to make healthcare breakthroughs — but first they must grapple with how to get to the office”

www.ft.com/content/3bf2...

Full text of Charles Walker’s pint of milk protest (25 March 2021)

“At the end of the day it will be warm, and I can choose whether to drink it or pour it away, because it will be robbed of its refreshing elegance by the time it has been in my pocket for 12 hours”

Charles Walker MP, a white clean-shaved man with greying hair, standing in Central Lobby in a dark suit and tie, holding a pint of semi skimmed milk in one hand. He is speaking to an interviewer out of frame and making an important point, gesturing with his other hand

Today in political history: 25 March is the five year anniversary of Charles Walker’s ‘pint of milk protest’

“For the next few days I am going to walk around London with a pint of milk on my person, because that pint will represent my protest”

100 Jumps Hold to charge, release to jump. Land on 100 platforms to win — but one miss and it's over. How many attempts will it take you?

This is my life now 100jumps.org

Just realised that the 3 Lions ‘30 years of hurt’ is 30 years ago this year. They were singing about something as recent as 1996 is now.

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42

My favourite is the ‘so tell me about these overambitious projects you mentioned… which ones were they?’

Letter screenshots - full text in link

Excellent example of select committee scrutiny through an incisive follow-up letter on cuts to particle physics and astronomy at STFC. A great set of questions here after last week’s session.

committees.parliament.uk/publications...

Explained: why the next Horizon Europe needs philanthropy Complaints about Horizon Europe not having enough money are as old as the programme itself, with industry the first port of call when discussion turns to complementary funding. But what about…

As EU #research funding shifts toward #competitiveness, support for global challenges is tightening. A report from Centre for European Policy Studies argues that the next Horizon Europe should formally integrate philanthropy to help fill the gap:

And on how often Astronomer Royals go into battle - it does happen, most recently in the late 90's during the "Observatory Wars". They decided to close one of the Royal Observatory's (Greenwich vs Edinburgh). Edinburgh won the case and became the very wonderful UK Astronomy Technology Centre.

4 March 2026 - Science, Innovation and Technology Committee - Oral evidence session - Committees - UK Parliament 09:00 - The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

Commons session: committees.parliament.uk/event/26683/...

Science and Technology Committee - Events - Committees - UK Parliament The Science and Technology Committee is appointed to consider science and technology. It does this principally through undertaking inquiries. Follow the Committee on LinkedIn or X (formerly Twitt...

Lords session: committees.parliament.uk/committee/19...

Not sure how often Astronomers Royal go into battle publicly, but I really hope at least one of them will talk about a funding black hole.

Look out in particular for the *Astronomer Royal for Scotland* @astroroyalscot.bsky.social in that first panel, and potential differences of opinion with the *Astronomer Royal* in the second panel (who also happens to be Exec Chair of STFC, Michele Dougherty)

Both will be 'star witnesses', I'm sure

🍿 Wednesday 4 March - Commons SIT Cttee is talking to physicists and astronomers about the cuts/cost reductions at STFC, before grilling the STFC Executive Chair in a second panel.

Some good UK science policy select committee sessions to look forward to next week, in both the Commons and the Lords:

🍿 Tuesday 3 Mar - Lords S&T Committee quizzing Liz Kendall, Patrick Vallance and Emran Mian (DSIT Perm Sec). I imagine they'll be trying to get a handle on those buckets (ahem).

Kanishka Narayan said that STFC is “currently consulting with the scientific community about spending priorities within their settlement ahead of determining final allocation”

And DSIT is in “active dialogue with UKRI to ensure that any implications from funding decisions are fully understood”

...

Ian Chapman makes the case that he would not be doing his job properly if he didn't deal with the cost overruns at STFC, which are causing so much grief to physicists

Physics groups are calling on ministers to intervene (presumably with more cash)

And there is now a response from a minister

...

The emphasis today needs to be on getting maximum value out of the current programme, and using that as part of making the case for reassociation.

It was 'priced in' to the original decision that it would take time to build up Pillar II rates

The official govt FP10 position is actually quite clear

There's a risk UK participation rates in Horizon Pillar II becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy - the more we create fresh uncertainty about future participation because of low success, the more we disrupt potential collaboration.

So maybe... let's not do that?

Interesting! Thanks

Thanks. Might include all kinds of things. Hopefully the follow up note for the sel cttee will shed some light.

The only (UKRI level) figures I’ve found are £0.8bn in 24/25 responsive mode, cf for £815m applicant led 26/27. But the former is spend and the latter is budget, so also not right 🤷

What’s your source for the £200m figure for MRC applicant-led for previous years? I’ve only found UKRI-level numbers for responsive mode as a comparator

Chi Onwurah notes a strong alignment between the UK's three 'buckets' for R&D investments and the three 'pillars' of Horizon Europe.

On the balance between the buckets - Ian Chapman highlights the contirbution that other govt depts make to Bucket 2 if you were to look beyond UKRI