A leading Shropshire engineering firm has warned the decision to withdraw funding for the world leading Jodrell Bank will impact the next generation of engineers and scientists.
It has been announced that the observatory in Cheshire, which boasts the UK’s largest telescope, is at risk of losing its UK Research and Innovation funding by 2028, leading to its closure.
The UKRI has said it has to cut the observatory’s £2.8m budget because planned research costs and running of labs have escalated.
The news has been met with a backlash from a number of organisations and scientists, with well-known professor Brian Cox labelling the decision ‘astonishing’.
Telford-based Transicon, an automation and control specialist that has championed STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education across the region, wants the decision to be reversed.
General manager Jennifer Hughes has called the planned cuts short-sighted and explained how it risked damaging the UK’s ability to attract and retain top scientific talent.
She said: “We just cannot afford to lose our best scientific minds to countries that are willing to invest in this kind of research.
“That is not a future any of us should be comfortable with. This is a facility that has been at the forefront of global physics research for decades and has helped to develop scores of engineers and scientists.
“It forms part of the e-MERLIN network and cutting funding to a facility like this is not a small decision, it has global consequences for physics research.
“What concerns me is the message this sends. If we want young people to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology, we have to show them that those fields are valued.
“Defunding institutions like these risks doing the exact opposite.”
Jennifer, who is passionate about astrophysics, has been a long-standing advocate for STEM engagement in schools across the Shropshire area, and last year took part in a national campaign championing the future of STEM skills across the industry.
She added that although there is a need for AI development in areas such as this one, defunding the facility showed a tunnel vision approach from the Government to science and technology.
Jennifer added: “There is a great deal of understandable excitement around areas like AI and quantum computing, and rightly so. But throughout history, looking beyond our own world has helped us to understand our planet better.
“Space exploration and fundamental physics research are not a luxury, they are the foundation on which the next generation of scientific discovery is built.
“If we want engineering and science to thrive in this country, we need to fund the things that inspire people to pursue those careers in the first place.”
Transicon, which was established in 1967 and is based at Queensway Business Park in Telford, works with major manufacturers across the UK including household names such as Müller Dairy, BMW and Tata Steel. The company runs an active apprenticeship programme and regularly engages with local schools to promote engineering and STEM careers.
