Putting research on the chopping block risks mortgaging countries’ futures

Lean times are ahead for research and universities around the world. Few countries in the global north have escaped growing pessimism in the science sector as university leaders talk of ‘belt tightening’ and the need to ‘make savings’. Meanwhile, funding agencies find their budgets squeezed as countries struggle to deal with stagnating economies. Ottoline Leyser, the outgoing head of UKRI, the main UK research funder, has warned that research budgets ‘will be tight’ for the foreseeable future. Reports suggest that large UK research facilities, such as the Diamond Light Source, could soon face cuts.