The Open Letter In Response to STFC Priorisation Activity Outcomes for the Multidisciplinary Facilities User Communities can be read below.

Sign the Letter

14 July 2026

Professor Michele Dougherty Executive Chair, Science and Technology Facilities Council

Professor Sir Ian Chapman Chief Executive, UK Research and Innovation

Re: Response to STFC Priorisation Activity Outcomes for the Multidisciplinary Facilities User Communities

Dear Professor Dougherty and Professor Sir Ian Chapman,

We are writing to express our deep concern about the proposed cuts to the operations of the Multidisciplinary Facilities (MDFs) such as ISIS and Diamond. Although we recognise the need for STFC to operate sustainably, the cuts announced fall disproportionately on these MDFs and will cause serious harm to the large and highly interdisciplinary UK facility user community working across condensed matter physics, materials science, chemistry, engineering, and the life sciences.

The work carried out by our community spans activities from curiosity-driven discovery research to application-driven innovation and has a proven track record of delivering fundamental scientific breakthroughs, world-leading instrumentation, and significant economic and societal impact. Examples include quantum materials, battery research, advanced manufacturing, catalysis, pharmaceuticals and healthcare technologies, all of which align closely with the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy and future economic growth ambitions. Reduced operation of the MDFs that underpin these activities therefore risks weakening UK leadership and growth across multiple strategically important sectors.

The announcement of the cuts used a notion of “protecting talent” to justify shielding PPAN activities, but cuts to ISIS and Diamond are set to harm the talent residing in University groups across the UK through significantly reduced research programmes, along with the world-class talent that exists at the facilities themselves among instrument scientists. The measures announced do not appear to have been informed by consultation with the user communities of the MDFs and reveal a lack of understanding of the available potential of alternative funding streams. Furthermore, of the series of ten community engagement events referred to at the STFC town hall on 9 July, none, as far as we are aware, engaged directly with the broader MDF user community.

The threat to the muon programme at ISIS is an example of the danger of the proposed strategy. The ISIS pulsed muon facility is unique and one of the most scientifically productive, cost-effective, and impactful parts of the STFC-ISIS programme. It only uses 3% of the proton beam and we estimate that it is run by about 3% of the ISIS staff, yet its scientific contribution is much larger. It is also an area in which the UK is currently world leading, with numerous international reviews having supported continued investment. Targeting cuts here, rather than allowing the MDFs to make strategic funding choices from across their portfolios, would have a catastrophic and irreversible impact on a research avenue in which the UK has particular strength.

We urge you to reconsider the scale of the cuts to the MDFs and to allow those cuts that must be made to be based on consultation with users, evidence, and with regard to the talent that exists across the diverse UK scientific community that STFC is meant to serve.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Blundell, Professor of Physics (University of Oxford)
Lucy Clark, Professor of Materials Chemistry (University of Birmingham)
Andrew McCluskey, Senior Lecturer (University of Bristol)
Thorsten Hesjedal, Professor (University of Oxford)
Serena Cussen, Full Professor in Materials Chemistry (University College Dublin)
Tom Lancaster, Deputy Head of Physics (Durham University)
Michael Hayward, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry (University of Oxford)
Hariom Jani, Royal Society - University Research Fellow (University of Oxford)
Marek Szablewski, Professor of Physics (Durham University)
John Evans, Professor of Materials Chemistry (Durham University)
Claudio Castelnovo, Professor (University of Cambridge)
Emma McCabe, Associate Professor of Physics (Durham University)
Budhika Mendis, Professor (Durham University)
Sean Giblin, Professor (Cardiff University)
Sir Richard Catlow, Research Professor (UCL and Cardiff University)
Anna Regoutz, Associate Professor in Experimental Inorganic Chemistry (University of Oxford)
Roger Johnson, Associate Professor (Durham University)
Radu Coldea, Professor of Physics (University of Oxford)
Christopher Marrows, Professor & Head of Condensed Matter Physics (University of Leeds)
Sian Dutton, Professor (University of Cambridge)
Andrew Boothroyd, Head of Department of Physics (University of Oxford)
Stewart Clark, Professor of Physics (Durham University)
Matthew Cliffe, Associate Professor of Materials Chemistry (University of Cambridge)
Duncan Bruce, Professor of Materials Chemistry (University of York)
Elizabeth Bromley, Professor (Durham University)
J. Paul Attfield, Chair of Materials Science At Extreme Conditions (University of Edinburgh)
Malte Grosche, Professor for Condensed Matter Physics (University of Cambridge)
Caitlin Brooker-Davis, PhD student (University of Birmingham)
Naveen Naguleswaran, PhD researcher (University of Birmingham)
Jacob Brownlee, PhD Student (University of Birmingham / ISIS Neutron and Muon Source)
Paul Goddard, Professor of Physics (University of Warwick )
Thomas Hicken, Postdoctoral Fellow (Paul Scherrer Institute)
Martin Lees, Professor of Physics (University of Warwick)
Nicholas Bristowe, Associate Professor (Durham University )
Harry Lloyd, PhD Student (University of Birmingham)
Abbie Mclaughlin, Professor of Chemistry (University of Aberdeen)
Louise Male, X-ray Diffraction Facility Manager (University of Birmingham)
Alexandra Gibbs, Reader (University of St Andrews)
James Barclay, Postdoctoral Researcher (University of Birmingham )
Geetha Balakrishnan, Professor (University of Warwick)
Nicola Kelly, Research Fellow (University of Cambridge)
Matthew Coak, Associate Professor in Condensed Matter Physics (University of Birmingham)
Geetha Balakrishnan, Professor (University of Warwick)
Andrew Jackson, Adjunct Senior Lecturer (Lund University)
James Annis, Research Fellow (University of Birmingham)
Steven Bramwell, Director (London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL)
Andrew Heard, Research Fellow (University of Birmingham)
Tim Barendt, Associate Prof in Chemistry (University of Birmingham)
Andrew Heard, Research Fellow (University of Birmingham)
Tim Barendt, Associate Prof in Chemistry (University of Birmingham)
Lee Brammer, Professor of Chemistry (University of Sheffield)
Isolde Marsland, PhD Student (University of Edinburgh)
John Irvine, Professor of Chemistry (University of St Andrews)
Eddie Cussen, Lecturer in Green and Sustainable Chemistry (Technological University Dublin)
Kate Emmerson, PhD Student (University of Edinburgh)
Fabrizia Foglia, Associate Professor in Inorganic & material Chemistry (UCL)
Jan-Willem Bos, Reader (University of St Andrews )
Malcolm McMahon, Professor of Physics (University of Edinburgh)
Evgenia Georgiadou , PhD student (University of St Andrews)
Maximilian Pelly, Research Fellow (University of St Andrews)
Benjamin Huddart, Postdoctoral Research Assistant (University of Oxford)
Claire Hobday, Senior Lecturer and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow (University of Edinburgh)
Phil King, Professor of Physics (University of St Andrews)
Michael Parkes, Senior Researcher (UCL)
Kislon Voitchovsky, Professor, Head of Condensed Matter Physics (Durham University)
Adam Clancy, Lecturer of Inorganic Chemistry (UCL)
Sam Cassidy, Lecturer (UCL)
Rebecca Rae, Research Specialist in Materials Chemistry (University of Edinburgh)
Karen Johnston, Associate Professor (Durham University)
Christoph Salzmann, Professor (University College London)
Naina Kushwaha, PhD student (University of St-Andrews)
Gavin Burnell, Professor of Materials Physics (University of Leeds)
Hugh Geaney, Associate Professor (University of Limerick)
Miguel Rivera, Associate Professor (Teaching) (UCL)
Rachel Crespo Otero, Associate Professor (University College London)
Aidan Hindmarch, Associate Professor (Durham University)
Benjamin Moss, Lecturer in Inorganic Materials Chemistry (UCL)
Daniel Mayoh, Assistant Professor (University of Warwick)
Patricija Mendelyte, PhD student (University of Edinburgh)
Sarah Price, Professor of Physical Chemistry (UCL)
Tracey Clarke, Associate Professor (UCL)
Gunnar Möller, Head of Physics of Quantum & Materials Group (University of Kent)
Joseph Wright, Senior Lecturer in Energy Materials (University of East Anglia)
Nicola Morley, Professor of Materials Physics (University of Sheffield)
Yishan Lu, PhD student (University of Edinburgh )
Yiming Zhao, PhD student (University of Edinburgh )
Phoebe Allan, Professor of Materials Chemistry (University of Birmingham)
Steve Armes, Firth Professor of Chemistry (University of Sheffield)
Anthony Phillips, Professor of Physics and Chemistry of Materials (Queen Mary University of London)
Colin Seaton, Associate Professor (University of Bradford)
Zachary Warren , Postdoctoral Research Associate (University of Bath)
Robert Jackson, Emeritus Reader in Computational Solid State Chemistry (Keele University)
Alan Dunbar, Senior Lecturer (University of Sheffield)
Hamish Yeung, Associate Professor of Materials Chemistry (University of Birmingham)
Iain Oswald, Reader (University of Strathclyde)
Joshaniel Cooper, Instrument Scientist (European Spallation Source)
Struan Simpson, Research fellow (University of Warwick)
Andrew Orr-Ewing FRS, Professor (University of Bristol)
Judith Peters, Professor (Univ. Grenoble Alpes)
Martin Attfield, Reader (The University of Manchester)
Liam Nagle-Cocco, Postdoctoral researcher (Stanford University)
Andrew Purkiss, Principal Laboratory Research Scientist (The Francis Crick Institute)
John Claridge, Reader (University of Liverpool)
James Hallett, Lecturer in Physical Chemistry (University of Reading)
Arzhang Ardavan, Professor of Physics and Head of Condensed Matter Physics (University of Oxford)
Charles Dewhurst, Staff Scientist (Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France)
Sacha Fop, Lecturer (University of Aberdeen)
Hannah Maguire, PhD Student (Queen’s University Belfast)
William Sharratt, Lecturer in Soft Materials (University of Liverpool)
Bob Baker, Assistant Professor (Trinity college Dublin)
John Slattery, Reader in Chemistry (The University of York)
Dr Eliza Dempsey, Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Trinity College Dublin)
Derri Hughes, PhD Researcher in Chemical Physics (University of Southampton)
Matthew Potter, Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry (University of Bath)
Dave Adams, Professor (University of Glasgow)
Joseph Bear, Senior Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry (Kingston University)
Lizzie Evans, PhD student (University of Birmingham )
Patricio Munoz, Assistant professor (Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Alexey Ganin, Senior Lecturer (University of Glasgow)
Mingee Chung, Associate Professor (University of Birmingham)
Tony Bell, Senior Technical Specialist (Sheffield Hallam University)
Simon Clarke, Professor of Chemistry; IMAT-CDT Director (University of Oxford)
Tamara Alhilfi, Associate Professor (University college London)
James Le Houx, Senior Lecturer (University of Greenwich)
John Helliwell, Emeritus Professor in Dept of Chemistry (University of Manchester)
Stephen Fielden, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow (University of Birmingham)
Saiful Islam, Professor of Materials Science (University of Oxford )
Thomas Brogan, Ph.D. Candidate in Condensed Matter Physics (University of Birmingham)
Caroline Kirk, Professor of Sustainable Materials Chemistry (University of Edinburgh)
Ieuan Seymour, Lecturer (University of Aberdeen)
Euan Brechin , Crum Brown Chair of Chemistry (The University of Edinburgh )
Stuart Cavill, Professor of Condensed Matter Physics (University of York)
Klaas Wynne, Chair of Chemical Physics (University of Glasgow)
Paul Freeman, Senior Lecturer (University of Lancashire)
George Phillips, PhD Student (University of Cambridge)
Enrico Da Como, Associate Professor (University of Bath)
Oscar Cespedes, Professor (University of Leeds)
Simon Bending, Professor (University of Bath)
Diogo A. Fernandes De Almeida, Research Fellow (University of St Andrews)
Paul Saines, Reader in Chemistry (University of Kent)
Daniel Wilson, 1851 Research Fellow (UCL)
Jose Luis Garcia-Muñoz, Research Professor ( Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC))
Yoshiko Nanao, Post-doc researcher (University of St Andrews)
Nik Reeves-McLaren, Senior Lecturer (University of Sheffield)
Thomas Ashton, Associate Professor (UCL)
Neil Robertson, Professor, School of Chemistry (University of Edinburgh)
Chris Clarkson, Professor of Cosmology (Queen Mary University of London)
Jorge Quintanilla, Director, Quantum Applications Research Centre (University of Kent)
Matthew Pearce, Postdoctoral Researcher (Durham University)
Shabir Najmudin, Senior Research Fellow (Randall Centre, King’s College London)
Catherine Pappas, Emerita professor (Delft University of Technology )
Kacper Druzbicki, Professor (Polish Academy of Sciences)
Julia Payne, Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry (University of St Andrews)
Adam Michalchuk, Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry (University of Birmingham)
Thomas Sheerin, Postdoctoral researcher (University of St Andrews)
Bruno Kenichi Saika, Postdoctoral researcher (University of St Andrews)
Nida Shahbaz, PhD Student (University of St Andrews)
Geoff Thornton, Professor of Physical Chemistry (UCL)
Jacob Williams, PhD Student (University of Birmingham)
Caroline Knapp, Associate Professor (University College London)
Mark Sanderson, Visiting Professor (Division of Systems Medicine, Imperial College London)
Alexander O’Malley, Senior Lecturer (University of Bath)
Heloisa Nunes Bordallo, Professor (Assoc) (University of Copenhagen )
Kelly Morrison, Professor of experimental physics (Loughborough University)
Freya Johnson, Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Research Fellow (Imperial College London)
Andrew Burnett, Associate Professor (University of Leeds)
Claire Wilson, Analytical Services Manager (University of Glasgow)
Robert Price, Research Fellow (University of St Andrews)
River Riley, Associate Professor of Chemistry (UCL)
Ben Humphreys, instrument scientist (Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL))
Sundeep Vema, Postdoctoral Research Fellow (University of Cambridge)
Ewan Thomas, DPhil Student (University of Oxford)
Dipranjan Chatterjee, Postdoctoral Research Assistant (University of Oxford)
Ulrich Baisch, Professor (University of Malta)
Leon Focks, PhD Student (University of Cambridge)
Jon Goff, Chair of Experimental Condensed Matter Physics (Royal Holloway University of London)
Victoria Hilborne, Associate Professor (Teaching) (UCL)
Hanna Boström , (Stockholm University )
Alan Drew, Professor of Experimental Physics (Queen Mary University of London)
Alex Cline, Senior Lecturer in Information Systems (Queen Mary University of London)
Michael Quin, Postdoc (Gothenburg University)
Sanjit Nayak, Senior Lecturer (University of Bristol)
Nathan Bentley, PhD student (Durham University)
Jon Marangos, Professor of Physics (Imperial College London)
Denis Vasiukov, Instrument Scientist (European Spallation Source ERIC)
Marta Falkowska, Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Fellow and Harwell Fellow (The University of Manchester)
Andrew Huxley, Professor (University of Edinburgh )
Andrew Beale, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry (UCL)
Anna Marie Davies, Research Fellow (King’s College London)
Jonathan Nitschke, Professor of Chemistry (University of Cambridge)
Aryaman Gogoi Baruah, PhD (University of St Andrews)
Raj Pandya, Assistant Professoe (University of Cambridge and Warwick )
Saskia Lindhoud, Professor (University of Twente)
Alexey Kiselyk, PhD student (Durham University)
Seán Kavanagh, Assistant Professor (University of Cambridge)
Clare Grey, Professor (University of Cambridge )
Richard Walton, Professor of Chemistry (University of Warwick)
Boyan Bonev, Professor of Biophysics, Director fo Research & KE (University of Nottingham)
Simon Parsons, Emeritus Professor of Crystallography (The University of Edinburgh)
Manuel dos Santos Dias, Computational Scientist (STFC Scientific Computing)
Lukasz Domanski, PhD student (University of Cambridge )
Alastair Lennox, Professor of Chemistry (University of Bristol)
Jeremiah Tidey, Senior Research Technician (University of Warwick & National Electron Diffraction Facility)
Maisoon Al-Jawad , Professor of Biological Physics (University of Leeds)
Bob C. Schroeder, Professor of Organic Materials (UCL)
James Steele, Postdoctoral Research Fellow (University of Oxford )
Jacques Huot, Professor (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières)
Amber Visser, PhD candidate (University of Cambridge)
Julia Rho, Lecturer of Organic Chemistry (UCL)
Daniel Rainer, Senior Specialist Technician (University of Southampton)
Joao Muniz, Professor (University of Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, Brazil.)
Del Atkinson, Professor of Physics (Durham University)
Shu Mo, PhD student (University of St Andrews)
Gavin Bell, Professor of Physics (University of Warwick)
James Keeler, Head of Department (Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry (University of Cambridge))
Matthew Evans, Research Fellow (University of Cambridge)
Marin Alexe, Professor, Chair of Functional Materials (University of Warwick )
Keith Butler, Associate Professor (UCL)
Marta Falkowska, Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Fellow and Harwell Fellow (The University of Manchester)
Stuart Clarke, Professor of Surface Science (University of Cambridge)
Naëmi Leo, UKRI Future Leader Fellow (Loughborough University )
Jason Greenwood, Reader (Queen’s University Belfast)
Mads Gabrielsen, Facility lead (University of Glasgow)
Bora Karasulu , Associate Professor in computational chemistry (University of Warwick )
Anna Marie Davies, Research Fellow (King’s College London)
Daniel Halliday, Postdoctoral Research Associate (Durham University )