July 9, 2026

UKRI announces outcome of STFC budget

UKRI is the UK’s largest investor of taxpayers’ money into research and innovation (R&I), with an annual budget of more than £8Bn, rising to around £10Bn by 2030 AFTER a record settlement from government in the last Spending Review.  

Within UKRI the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has a flat budget between 2026-2030, but its costs are forecast to exceed that budget in the coming years due to factors including increased energy costs, unfavourable foreign exchange fluctuations, higher staffing costs and an expanded portfolio of activities.

Since the start of the year STFC and UKRI have been conducting a prioritisation exercise to plan a course to long term financial sustainability for STFC. This has included asking grant holders how they would be affected by budget reductions and consulting with the research community, staff and advisory bodies.

The physics research community has campaigned energetically against cuts to STFC’s portfolio.

UKRI is now ready to outline its plan to bring STFC to a balanced budget by 2030, the difficult choices that will require and asked the SMC to host a briefing where they explained this to science reporters and answer their questions.

Speakers will include:

Prof Sir Ian Chapman, Chief Executive Officer, UKRI

Prof Michele Dougherty, Executive Chair, STFC

Prof Andy Schofield, Council Member, STFC