Consultation on STFC's Programmatic Review 2007-8
The consultation exercise is now closed.
Timeline and next steps
I provide below further information on the
composition of the specialist panels we have set up to consider inputs to the STFC
consultation exercise. I include a timetable for panel recommendations to be considered
by PPAN, PALS and Science Board, and by STFC Council.
The web-based consultation has closed and over 1200
comments were received – thank you!
I apologise to those who had trouble submitting
comments on the last day; many additional inputs were received and accepted by
email so hopefully everyone was able to contribute who wanted to. Members of
the community still have the opportunity to make their views known directly to
members of the panels or the STFC executive. This can be done, for example, at
Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics Town Meetings on 31 March and 1 April
respectively, and at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast during the same week.
Panels
The chairs of all of the panels have been appointed,
and most of the panel membership confirmed. We will announce the full membership when it
is complete.
The panels have been set up to provide independent
advice to PPAN and PALS, as well as to the Science Board and the STFC executive.
The panels will use material generated by the Programmatic Review, and comments
received during the consultation.
The panels have been asked to digest and summarise the
community’s input, add their commentary about the prioritisation of science
projects and recommend a course of action. Prioritisation means making choices,
so if a panel recommends that a project(s) should get more funding, it will be
expected to indicate which project(s) should get less to compensate within its
area. The panels are also invited to explain what could be done with a modest
increase in funding for their area of science in order to allow us to tension
the opportunities that exist in different areas.
Normal rules relating to conflict of interest will
apply.
The panels will produce reports that set out their
analysis of the consultation input and their recommendations.
Our goal is to have reports of the panels presented
to PPAN or PALS at their meetings on 24/25 April and 7/8 May respectively. (Some
panels have indicated that their schedules may need to be slower than this, and
as far as reasonably possible our goal will be to allow sufficient time for the
process to be done properly).
The Science Board will consider the PPAN and PALS recommendations
at its meeting on 9 May, after which the STFC executive will prepare a report
to Council with recommendations for the overall shape of its science programme.
This report will take account of the consultation process and other strategic
issues. It will contain a recommendation on each project, together with the
rationale for this recommendation. It is intended that this report will be
published after consideration by Council at its meeting on 1 July. The reports of the panels will be made public
at the same time.
John Womersley
Director, Science Porgrammes
31 March 2008
