The University of Nottingham’s chemistry department is facing the loss of 30% of its faculty, as hundreds of staff across the university face redundancy. The move comes as the university attempts to address ‘significant financial challenges’, but staff warn that the proposals will harm research and teaching capacity.
Last week university administrators sent letters to 2700 members of Nottingham’s staff warning them that their roles are at risk of redundancy. The university is aiming to cut more than 600 positions across all departments, including administrative, managerial, technical and academic roles.
Letters were received by 31 of the chemistry department’s 46 members of academic staff, with the university aiming to cut 14 faculty positions. Technical and support staff are also among those to have received news that their roles are at risk. Other departments are understood to be facing similar staff reductions.
My whole scientific career, and that of many others at Nottingham, was based on the quality of the technical staff that we had
Steve Howdle, former head of chemistry at the University of Nottingham
A consultation will be held to allow staff and trade unions to respond to the administration’s proposal over the coming weeks. The university has informed staff that it is initially seeking to achieve the proposed staff reductions through a voluntary redundancy scheme. However, it has said that it will consider compulsory redundancies should its target not be met.
In recent years, higher education leaders have repeatedly sounded warnings about university finances, which have been squeezed by frozen tuition fees and curbs on immigration that have made it harder to attract international students, who pay significantly more for their education.
Last year, Nottingham reported a financial deficit of £85.3 million, the largest of any Russell Group university. A major factor was a £74.8 million downgrade to the value of the university’s Castle Meadow and Kings Meadow campuses. The Nottingham branch of the University and College Union (UCU), representing academic staff members, described Nottingham’s investment in the Castle Meadow campus as ‘perhaps the most egregious’ of several ill-conceived projects that have been ‘starving core academic functions of resources’.
From today, members of Nottingham’s UCU are participating in a marking and assessment boycott, with a strike planned for 22 May. A further 61 days of strikes are due to begin on 1 June.
Chemistry’s plight in the face of proposed redundancies
Nottingham’s chemistry department has traditionally ranked as one of the strongest for teaching and research in the UK. However, the proposed redundancies are understood to have been sent to a significant proportion of teaching staff within the department, including 80% of the team that won the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Excellence in Higher Education prize just two years ago.
We are shocked and saddened to learn of the implications of the recently announced future Nottingham proposals for our school
Peter Licence, University of Nottingham
‘They put 2700 people on notice that their jobs are in danger, that’s effectively half the staff of the university. It’s a horrible, horrible situation,’ says Steve Howdle, a polymer chemist who previously served as the head of Nottingham’s chemistry department. ‘It’s not just targeted chemistry, it’s a university-wide issue.’
Howdle took voluntary redundancy last month after working in Nottingham’s chemistry department for 40 years. His redundancy will count towards those that the university is aiming to make.
Howdle is particularly worried about the impact on teaching and technical staff. ‘My concern about chemistry, from what I’ve heard, is that there are a whole cohort of teaching staff who are in danger, and also some of the technical staff,’ he says. ‘My whole scientific career, and that of many others at Nottingham, was based on the quality of the technical staff that we had – we developed a workshop that’s actually world leading in the way that it produces apparatus for the experiments we carry out at Nottingham. So, for those guys to be put in danger, it really struck me when I heard last week that they’ve gone far further than I thought they would.’
‘We are shocked and saddened to learn of the implications of the recently announced future Nottingham proposals for our school,’ comments Peter Licence, head of Nottingham’s chemistry department. ‘We remain actively engaged with the university through the consultation phase to minimise the impact on our students and staff. Our aim is to continue to provide excellent teaching and to maintain our internationally leading research portfolio.’
Support from the scientific community
A petition opposing the cuts to the chemistry department has been signed by over 1000 scientists, including several Nobel laureates and other high-profile members of the chemistry community. Many of those signing the petition have left comments criticising the proposed cuts.
The magnitude of the proposed measures is staggering
Jason Love, University of Edinburgh
‘Nottingham chemistry can claim to enjoy a high reputation, both nationally and internationally, for its research and teaching. If the proposed cuts are carried out, they will lead, pretty quickly, to chemistry being assessed as second-rate by everyone, everywhere,’ warned James Turner, a retired inorganic chemist who previously served as pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Nottingham.
The University of Manchester chemist David Leigh took aim at the proposed cuts to teaching and technical staff. ‘These are the people responsible for educating and training the next generation of UK scientists who will deliver the skills, discoveries and industrial capacity on which those high-value sectors depend,’ he said. ‘Weakening this provision will undermine the very pipeline of talent and innovation that national policy says the UK urgently needs to strengthen.’
Speaking to Chemistry World, Jason Love, an inorganic chemist from the University of Edinburgh, who serves as chair of the Heads of Chemistry UK group, says that he was disappointed to hear about the impending redundancies at Nottingham. ‘Chemistry at Nottingham has been, and remains, a dominant feature of the UK higher education landscape, delivering excellence in teaching to an enormous number of students and undertaking world-leading research across a breadth of topics important to the UK and globally,’ he notes. ‘The magnitude of the proposed measures is staggering and would severely impact the department’s teaching and research provision.’
‘A worrying trend’
The news from Nottingham follows similar staff cuts and closures that have affected a number of chemistry departments across the UK in recent years. Last year, the RSC issued a warning that ‘cold spots’ were emerging across the country, where university-level chemistry education cannot be accessed within a reasonable travel time.
Chemistry is a growth area for jobs, essential for economic and societal goals and the UK’s industrial strategy
Helen Pain, Royal Society of Chemistry
‘Our work shows chemistry is a growth area for jobs, essential for economic and societal goals and the UK’s industrial strategy,’ says RSC chief executive, Helen Pain. ‘While we understand the financial pressures in UK universities and the need for changes … we are extremely concerned that big cuts to chemistry departments risk damaging long-term scientific capability and resilience.’
‘In this context, the University of Nottingham’s draft proposals are particularly concerning, as they would significantly reduce its chemistry staff,’ she adds. ‘The department plays an important role in groundbreaking chemistry research and in training a skilled workforce – as well as very directly in the local and regional economy and international collaborations.’
‘We are in touch with the department, will seek constructive dialogue with the university’s management and are willing to offer support, as we have done and are doing for other departments where big reductions and changes were proposed, such as Reading, Cardiff and Leicester.’
Love observes that chemistry departments ‘appear to be over-represented in university reductions, mergers and closures’, which he describes as ‘a worrying trend’. He adds that the news from Nottingham comes at a time when it is even more important for the UK to support science subjects, noting that chemistry is integral to the eight sectors identified in the government’s industrial strategy as having the highest potential for economic growth.
‘Chemistry graduates are highly desirable, with skills not only essential to the chemical industry but also across health and life sciences, AI and machine learning, advanced manufacturing, and business and finance,’ he adds. ‘Eroding the delivery of this foundational science damages departmental and university reputations and has severe consequences for the health and wealth of the UK.’
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