The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is calling on its members to help force the Government to reconsider its proposed cuts to astronomy and space science.
Last month the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) advised researchers that resource grants for this area are likely to be subject to a 30% budget reduction, with project teams told to plan for anything up to 60% cuts.
If this course is not reversed, it could trigger one of the most serious crises for our sciences in modern times.
"The planned cuts arise from a longstanding structural issue within STFC, where the costs of facilities and international subscriptions are tensioned against astronomy, and particle and nuclear physics," said RAS President Professor Mike Lockwood.
"As those costs rise, our science is hit particularly hard, unlike the disciplines supported by any other research council."
The RAS is doing everything possible to persuade the Government and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to act to reverse the unprecedented cuts and the damage they will inflict on our sciences, including working with politicians to ask questions in Parliament.
The Society is also calling on UK Fellows to contact their MP to seek their support in persuading the Government to think again, using this template letter to make that easier.
If the disastrous plans are allowed to continue unopposed they will destroy the UK’s reputation as a global leader in astronomy and space science.
"We will be seen as a country that chose to defund one of its most successful areas of research with the most drastic cut in support in a generation," Professor Lockwood added.