RAS National Astronomy Meeting Portsmouth 2014 - Professor John Womersley Chief Executive Officer - STFC
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RAS National Astronomy Meeting
Portsmouth 2014
Professor John Womersley
Chief Executive Officer
June 2014
• Highlights of the wider programme
• Spending and Programmatic Review
• ESO & Other Facilities
• Long term planning
• Astronomy Grants & Training
• Other funding news
Nasa
Breaking News!
• Game changer in hydrogen as a
“green” fuel*
• Uses simultaneous chemical
processes, rather than precious metal
catalysts, to crack ammonia (NH3)
• Ammonia can be stored in vehicles
at low-pressure in conformable
plastic tanks
• Forecourt infrastructure as easy as LPG
• Led by Professor Bill David from ISIS.
• “We can produce hydrogen from ammonia ‘on demand’ effectively and
affordably. Few people think of ammonia as a fuel but we believe that it is
the natural alternative to fossil fuels. We estimate that an ammonia
decomposition reactor no bigger than a 2-litre bottle will provide enough
hydrogen to run a mid-range family car.”
*Hydrogen Production from Ammonia using Sodium Amide. David et ors. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014
Laser spin-out to keep airports safe
• STFC spin-out Cobalt Light Systems has
now sold scanners to 65 European
airports to identify liquids in luggage
• Could spell an end to the hand luggage
restrictions
• STFC media team pitched the story,
working with company and CLF
• Broadcast to millions on BBC, local radio, Fox
News in US, Reuters TV internationally
• More than 4m people read the story in UK
newspapers and online including The Times,
Daily Mail and Independent
• The story was featured in over a dozen trade
and specialist publications, so far!
Cobalt EU Sales: £12m+
Aberdeen
Sales/support
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Leeds Bradford Direct
Dublin Amsterdam Schiphol Groningen Bydgoszcz
Cork London Heathrow
Rotterdam Germany HTDS
Bristol London Poland
Stansted Eindhoven (tender in process)
Southampton London City Bruges
London Gatwick
Maastricht
Brussels Charleroi
(tenders in process) Analyticon
Lille
Guernsey Paris Charles de Gaulle Nuremberg
Jersey
Munich
SAE
Brest Bale-Mulhouse Linz
Paris Orly St. Gallen Salzburg
Nantes Geneva
Bern Innsbruck
Klagenfurt Target
Zürich
Lyon St. Exupéry Lugano
Lyon Bron
Marseille Nice
Montpellier
Bibao
Italy
Canary Islands: Barcelona-El Prat Girona Ajaccio Few decisions yet
Tenerife Sur Madrid-Barajas
Gran Canaria Menorca
Valencia
Palma de Mallorca
Lanzarote Alicante Ibiza
Fuerteventura Seville
Málaga
Tenerife Norte
Higgs Centre for Innovation
• Autumn Statement included
£10.7m capital for construction
• Will provide business incubation
centre and start-up support,
exploiting UK ATC capabilities in
instrumentation and big data
• Partnership with Edinburgh
University, will host 12 small “The Centre will enable us to build on our
strong research base and play a major role in
businesses, as well as academic helping to bridge the so-called 'valley of
and PhD posts death' between the lab and the market
place.“ (Rt Hon David Willetts MP, December
• Higgs BIC and UKATC’s satellite test 2013)
facilities and big data expertise will
support the new Strathclyde-based
Centre for Excellence for Satellite
Applications
European Spallation Source • International accelerator-based neutron facility • To be built at Lund, Sweden • Complements existing neutron provision through ISIS • Science Minister announced in March that UK will contribute 10% to project, up to 70% to be ‘in kind’ • On ESFRI Roadmap • Further proof of need for international approaches to Big Science
Cross-Research Council working
• BBSRC grants totalling
£1.5m for central laser
facility
• Investigating the processes
that can lead to skin cancer
• Study enzyme function in
cells
• EPSRC funding £3.2m for
work at ALICE
• Cancer diagnosis using THz
radiation
Nuclear Physics
• Groups at the ISOLDE radioactive-beam facility at CERN
• produced 1st measurement of radioactive properties of astatine, the rarest
element on earth. Isotopes are candidates for the creation of
radiopharmaceuticals for cancer treatment by targeted alpha therapy
• observed some atomic nuclei can assume asymmetric “pear” shapes,
contradicting some existing nuclear theories and requiring others to be
amended.
STFC supports the experimental programme at
ISOLDE via a consortium of UK groups including
Liverpool, York and ManchesterPublic Engagement
• Our sciences, especially astronomy, are key
attractors for young people into science
• Many younger (and older) astronomers put
significant effort into PE
• So do we!
• We’re supporting “Collider” exhibition in Manchester
• Seeing the Universe in All its Light roadshow at NAM all week
• Already visited Westminster, Welsh Assembly, Northern Ireland, Big Bang
Fair etc, more to come
• Partnership with ASDC to get more hands-on
physics into Science CentresSpending and Programmatic Reviews
SKAProgrammatic and Spending Reviews
• PR Report published
• Recommendations being implemented
• For astronomy, budget outcome for 2015-16 outcome quite
positive
• Funds available for new developments and to support highest priority
commitments
• Flat funding for grants – ok for now but will be issue if
continues
• Advisory Panels working to update their roadmaps and to
provide input for Capital consultationCapital consultation
• Consultation is now live through BIS site
• All responses must be submitted by 4 July 2014
• Single RCUK response on behalf of all Councils
• STFC’s priorities agreed by EB with departmental input
• Covers all areas, i.e. estates, infrastructure, international organisations,
large projects and facilities, and campuses
• Consistent with Programmatic Review strategy, research community
priorities, and maximising research impact
• We are coordinating with Science Board, who are submitting
independently, to ensure consistency and no contradictionsESO and other facilities Miguel Claro
ESO
• Prof Rob Ivison has taken up post as Director
Science Programmes for ESO
• KMOS delivering science
• ESO considering its role in European
strategy – active discussions with
CTA, SKA and Astronet
• STFC has agreed funding for the MOONS
instrument for the VLT, to be led
by the UKATC
• The new exoplanet instrument SPHERE
has achieved first lightE-ELT
• Ground-breaking has commenced at
Armazones
• Spain has officially signed up to the
project, leaving only the ratification
of Brazil as ESO’s 15th member to be
completed
• Call for tenders for the dome and
main structure has been issued.
• STFC’s PPRP is considering the
detailed proposal for investment in
HARMONI and other E-ELT
instrumentsALMA • ALMA has now operated with over 50 antennae (out of a total of 66) • STFC provided many of the supporting systems for the receivers, software etc. • Extended support for UK Regional Centre • Early science is providing exciting insights, for example: mysterious clouds of CO around a star (Beta Pictoris) which is known to contain planetary systems – is this evidence for collisions between young planets? (Dent, Science)
• Minister announced total of £119M funding for R&D and the first
phase of construction (starting 2017)
• Working with partners to secure full funding required for first phase
(capped at €650 million)
• Germany withdraws due to funding limits
• Seeking to secure international HQ at Jodrell Bank
• Supporting the development of JIVE as an ERIC – a key element in support
for SKA within Europe;
• Set up UK science committee and continuing to promote
industrial engagement
• Matthew Johnson appointed as STFC Project lead for SKAIsaac Newton Group • ING negotiating team waiting legal advice in Netherlands and Spain before creating a foundation for the future operation of the ING; • JKT transferred to Spanish ownership; • Options for other facilities (such as GTC) to join Foundation; • Support for WEAVE approved and partnership now includes Italy, France, with modest contributions from Hungary and Mexico.
UKIRT and JCMT • Agreement to transfer ownership of UKIRT to UH, with operations by Lockheed and U Arizona is almost complete; • UK community has UKIRT access via in- kind support from the data centres; • UH is negotiating with a consortium led by East Asia, but including the UK and Canadian community, for the operation of the JCMT; • PPRP considering UK bid led by Walter Gear – funds available.
Space Programme / UKSA
• Continuing to provide modest support for development of UK
role in space missions and preparation for science exploitation
(e.g. Euclid)
• Provide strategic science guidance on potential new ESA
missions (most recently M3 but will do for L2)
• Providing all grants administration for UKSA
• UKSA fully involved in peer review of astronomy and space
science awardsNew developments • Following are being reviewed by PPRP: • LSST – proposal to join LSST and to provide a UK data centre • DESI – proposal to provide elements of Dark Energy spectrograph and lead science teams • ATST – proposal to contribute to camera for solar telescope in Hawaii • And funded: • e-MERLIN and LOFAR - operations • Liverpool Telescope operations – at a reduced level • NGTS – contribution to Exoplanet facility, based in Chile
Astronet
• Completed the updated Science Vision
• Updated infrastructure Roadmap in final draft – to be presented at
EWASS in Geneva
• Drafted proposal for federation to continue Astronet functions
beyond EU funding (similar to ApPEC)
• Considering options for common call
• Talking to ESO, ESA etc. to ensure joined-up role
• see: http://www.astronet-eu.org/ for detailsESFRI
• Broad consensus that future competitiveness in a globalising
knowledge economy depends on research capability, requiring:
• Investment in higher education and research institutions
• Access to first class research infrastructures
• Coordination on a European (and increasingly a global) scale is
required because
• Limited investment funds available
• Increasing level of infrastructure investments needed to remain at the
cutting edge
• Problems require broad data sharing and networking between national
nodes – distributed RIs
• RIs are intellectual hubs, not (just) big machines or big datasetsESFRI Process
RI proposal by ESFRI
ESFRI
Member State(s) Road-
map
SWG SWG SWG SWG SWG
Recommended
projects
• Pan-European and analysis of
• Science case
• Technical case landscape
• Business case
• Overall maturityNational Roadmaps
for Research Infrastructures
Roadmap in place
Roadmap under preparation
National funding reserved for
new/updated RIsProposed rules for new Roadmap
• Aim for only ~25 Decision Stage Projects on the new Roadmap
• Projects that have been on the roadmap and not implemented will
automatically roll off after 10 years
• Any project that wants to be considered again after 10 years must
reapply, either in a different form or with bottlenecks resolved
• Approximately 16 projects will not yet be implemented by
15/16 so there will be room for 8-10 new projects on the 2016
roadmap
• Assessment of new projects will be by scientific peer review, assessment
matrix, and indicators of pan-European relevanceAstronomy Grants and Training
ESO/S. BrunieAstronomy Grants 2014 Round • 2014 Grants round underway – first panel meetings in August • All community now on consolidated awards or consortium grants • Still receiving proposals from new groups (e.g. Bath, Surrey, Hull) • Increased funds available for this round which was largest when previously applied, though that included bridging
Applications / funding for Astronomy
Requested Number of Requested Awarded Awarded Awarded Awarded
Number funded Applicant Applicant fEC / RA / RA + Tech /
Applicants Applicants / fEC fEC Number of Number of Number of
Requested applicants applicants Applicants
number of
Applicants
Round 187 0.59 51 19 0.18 0.59 0.66
1
Round 209 0.61 51 20 0.15 0.57 0.64
2
Round 150 0.73 39 19 0.18 0.59 0.65
3Consolidated Grants Review: ToR
• Review implementation of 2010 Review Panel
• Note any adverse or unexpected consequences of the detailed
implementation
• Consider any differences in implementation between panels
• To consider the impact on the workload of the grants panels, the
community and the STFC Executive
• To consider the practices and policies of the grant panels in
awarding FEC time and core posts
• To comment on the implementation of the New Applicants
SchemeConsolidated Grants Review
• Panel chaired by Alan Heavens and included representatives
from all panels (Ian Smail for AGP) and from STFC
• Included community consultation and presentation at town
meetings (Astronomy Forum)
• Will report to Science Board in July
• Expected to suggest modest changes to the scheme to
improve implementation and consistency, but no major
changes within AstronomyEducation, Training and Careers
• ETCC has concluded its review of the studentships algorithm:
• The revised algorithm uses the same basic inputs – amount of academic
staff and RA effort – to determine studentship allocations.
• But academic staff effort will now be determined by the aggregate
amount of funded FEC time in a department plus 0.2×the number of
applicants on the department’s consolidated grant application (excluding
those graded “unfundable”).
• Other aspects remain the same.
• ETCC will discuss the finer details at its next meeting and these
will then be communicated to departments in July.Ernest Rutherford Fellowships
• 12 Fellowships were awarded from the 2013/14 round
• Closing date for additional grant funding is 31st July
• The 12 new Fellows and the 8 not awarded grants last year can apply
• Closing date for 2014/15 Fellowships round is 25
September 2014. Depts know their limits.
• Applications from candidates returning from career breaks etc. are
encouraged – STFC also supports Daphne Jackson Fellowships for the
same purposeMiguel Claro Other news
Industrial CASE Studentships
• Provides experience for PhD students outside a purely
academic environment working on projects that involve joint
supervision by academic staff and a non-academic organisation
such as a UK industrial firm, public sector organisation or
charity
• STFC has harmonised with AHRC, BBSRC, NERC and MRC on a
common closing date and application form. Next closing date is
10 July 2014
• 5 Industrial CASE studentships awarded in 2014Open Access
• RCUK open access policy requires papers that acknowledge
Research Council funding to be published in a way that is
compliant with open access, either:
• The journal provides immediate access through its own website, usually in
return for payment of an article processing charge (APC)
Or
• The journal allows deposit of the final version in a repository within six
months
Yes, this includes arXivOpen Access - continued • Block grant funding, rising to £29M pa by 2017/18 (£2.2M from STFC), is going to universities starting 2013/14 to cover APCs, but may also be used to help deliver open access in other ways • Research grants are no longer awarded with funding for publication costs • Full details are on the RCUK website • The policy and approach are to be reviewed in late 2014, reporting spring 2015
Innovations funding
LOFAR SwedenSTFC External Innovation Funding
• CLASP Healthcare call –
• £1.5M call launched in May inviting solutions in radioisotopes, imaging
technology, medical informatics and early diagnosis
• Innovations Club is running a parallel workshop 25th June at NAM
showcasing the range of Industrial applications from
Astrophysics and Astronomy and the funding available for
collaborative work.
• Park Building Room 1.23 09:30-16:30
• Everyone is welcomeDiscussion
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