How could the UK science funding cut affect British physicists working at CERN?

The UK science agency has pulled out of funding the LHCb upgrade, which could stop Harry Cliff and other British scientists from working on the next phase of the Zeptoverse research. Cliff called it a mad decision that damages a field where the UK is world leading. Early-career researcher Dr Mary Richardson-Slipper said she is looking at jobs abroad, where many of her friends have already gone. The funding body said it still backs CERN research but cannot fund every project.

• The funding body described itself as one of CERN's second largest funders.

▸In their words

“This is an area of science where the UK is genuinely world leading.” Harry Cliff · at 27:41 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Global News Podcast (2026-11-03). Read the whole episode summary →

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