A letter on concerns about the UK science budget from 121 early career scientists

Published in The Times, Saturday 14 November 2015

Sir, For 350 years the Royal Society has led revolutionary advances in our understanding of nature that have shaped our modern world. Today, the 500 early career scientists funded by the Society aspire to shape tomorrow's world.

We are passionate about the future of scientific research and innovation in the UK - we aim to lead it. But we are gravely concerned by ongoing atrophy and potential cuts to the research budget. At under 0.5 per cent of GDP, public investment in research is the lowest in the G8.

Hard times mean tough decisions; we understand this. But the innovations that will benefit UK society and our economy in five, ten, fifty and a hundred years will spring from discoveries made in coalface research today. The rewards promised by science investment require commitment and patience.

For generations the UK has been a global leader in scientific advancement and discovery. It is profoundly worrying that we are now slipping behind our international competitors. Without action, future transformative innovations and new discoveries will still be made, but they will not be made in the UK.

Dr James Geach

Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of Hertfordshire

And 120 early career researchers funded by the Royal Society:

Dr Diego Altamirano (University of Southampton)
Dr Andrew Angel (University of Oxford)
Dr Vasilis Archontis (University of St Andrews)
Dr Lily Asquith (University of Sussex)
Dr Artem Bakulin (University of Cambridge)
Dr Jonathan Baxter (University of Sussex)
Dr Esther Becker (University of Oxford)
Dr Goncalo Bernardes (University of Cambridge)
Dr Anthony Bishopp (University of Nottingham)
Prof Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (University College London)
Dr Neeltje Boogert (University of Oxford)
Dr Andy Buckley (University of Glasgow)
Dr Christian Byrnes (University of Sussex)
Prof Duncan Cameron (University of Sheffield)
Dr Adrian Chaplin (University of Warwick)
Dr James Cheney (University of Edinburgh)
Dr Jens Chluba (University of Cambridge)
Dr Martin Cohn (University of Oxford)
Dr Sinead Collins (University of Edinburgh)
Dr Christophe Corre (University of Warwick)
Dr Susan Cox (King's College London)
Dr Robert Crain (University of Liverpool)
Dr Daniel Credgington (University of Cambridge)
Dr Janet Deane (University of Cambridge)
Dr Alis Deason (Durham University)
Dr Antony Dodd (University of Bristol)
Dr Timothy Easun (Cardiff University)
Dr Sinead English (University of Cambridge)
Dr David Fairen-Jimenez (University of Cambridge)
Dr Aires Ferreira (University of York)
Dr Emily Flashman (University of Oxford)
Dr Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester)
Dr Ross Forgan (University of Glasgow)
Dr Pau Figueras (Queen Mary University of London)
Prof Brian Gerardot (Heriot-Watt University)
Dr Stephen Goldup (University of Southampton)
Dr David Glowacki (University of Bristol)
Dr Eva Gluenz (University of Oxford)
Prof Mark Gieles (University of Surrey)
Dr Sam Gilbert (University College London)
Dr Andrew Gillis (University of Cambridge)
Dr Eva-Maria Graefe (Imperial College London)
Prof Nicholas Graham (Lancaster University)
Prof Lucie Green (University College London)
Dr Sofia Gripenberg (University of Oxford)
Dr Yvonne Grunder (University of Liverpool)
Dr Jarrod Hadfield (University of Edinburgh)
Dr Ben Hall (University of Cambridge)
Dr Anders Hansen (University of Cambridge)
Dr Jill Harrison (University of Bristol)
Dr Tom Hasell (University of Liverpool)
Dr Kate Hendry (University of Bristol)
Dr Gavin Hesketh (University College London)
Dr Martin How (University of Bristol)
Dr Kim Jelfs (Imperial College London)
Dr Katherine Joy (University of Manchester)
Dr Andras Juhasz (University of Exeter)
Dr Stefan Kiefer (University of Oxford)
Dr Jason King (University of Sheffield)
Dr Thomas Kitching (University College London)
Dr Krzysztof Latuszynski (University of Warwick)
Dr Karen Lipkow (University of Cambridge)
Dr David Loeffler (University of Warwick)
Dr Sarah Malik (Imperial College London)
Dr Chris Martin (University of Sheffield)
Dr Goran Mashanovich (University of Southampton)
Dr Richard Massey (Durham University)
Dr Julien Michel (University of Edinburgh)
Dr Oleg Mitrofanov (University College London)
Dr Michelle Moram (Imperial College London)
Dr Benjamin Morgan (University of Bath)
Dr Gavin Morley (University of Warwick)
Dr Liam Morrison (University of Edinburgh)
Dr Michael Morrissey (University of St Andrews)
Dr David Mulryne (Queen Mary University of London)
Dr Heath Murray (Newcastle University)
Dr Salvador Navarro-Martinez (Imperial College London)
Dr Sarah Newey (University of Oxford)
Dr Jo Shien Ng (University of Sheffield)
Dr Andreas Nunnenkamp (University of Cambridge)
Dr Tom Oliver (University of Bristol)
Dr Gerben van Ooijen (University of Edinburgh)
Dr Olja Panic (University of Cambridge)
Dr Costis Papageorgakis (Queen Mary University of London)
Dr Silvia Paracchini (University of St Andrews)
Dr Jo Parish (University of Birmingham)
Dr Brian Patton (University of Oxford)
Dr Andrew Pilkington (University of Manchester)
Dr Matthew Piper (University College London)
Dr Andrew Pontzen (University College London)
Dr Nichola Raihani (University College London)
Dr Mario Recker (University of Exeter)
Dr Olivier Restif (University of Cambridge)
Prof Thomas Richards (University of Exeter)
Dr Colin Russell (University of Cambridge)
Dr Christoph Salzmann (University College London)
Dr Amelie Saintonge (University College London)
Dr Stephanie Schorge (University College London)
Prof Daniela Schmidt (University of Bristol)
Dr Claudia Schneider (Newcastle University)
Dr Susanne Shultz (University of Manchester)
Dr Amanda Sferruzzi-Perri (University of Cambridge)
Dr Robert Smith (University of Cambridge)
Dr Alex Stewart (University College London)
Dr Gregory Sutton (University of Bristol)
Dr Francisco Suzuki-Vidal (Imperial College London)
Dr Andrzej Szelc (University of Manchester)
Dr Stephen Tait (University of Glasgow)
Dr David Tew (University of Bristol)
Dr Alex Thom (University of Cambridge)
Dr Andrew Truman (John Innes Centre, Norwich)
Dr Hugh Tuffen (Lancaster University)
Dr Elizabeth Tunbridge (University of Oxford)
Dr Sam Vinko (University of Oxford)
Dr Nathalie Vriend (University of Cambridge)
Dr Aron Walsh (University of Bath)
Dr Paul Williams (University of Reading)
Dr Tom Wills (University College London)
Dr Robert Young (Lancaster University)
Dr Stanislav Zivny (University of Oxford)