Petition statement
On 28 May 2026 the University opened a consultation proposing to cut around 150 full-time-equivalent posts. Within it, almost every academic in the University's Particle Physics and Astronomy groups has been placed at risk, with a proposed reduction of around 35 per cent of the staff in Experimental Particle Physics, Theoretical Particle Physics, and the Astronomy Centre – several times larger, in proportional terms, than the institution-wide average. Singling out Particle Physics and Astronomy on this scale is a choice, not a necessity, and it is the wrong one.
These cuts threaten a department of genuine international standing. Its Astronomy Centre was founded in partnership with the Royal Greenwich Observatory, then at Herstmonceux, and remains a leading centre for cosmology and galaxy formation. The department leads experimental and theoretical work on physics in and beyond the Standard Model and the origin of the matter–antimatter asymmetry of the Universe, pioneers efforts to build a scalable quantum computer, and plays leading roles in major international collaborations including the ATLAS, DUNE, and DESI experiments. The Particle Physics and Astronomy groups at Sussex are a national asset that attracts talent from around the world and supplies graduates skilled in data analysis, computation, and machine learning. They are also central to undergraduate recruitment and teaching.
Damage on this scale would be in large part irreversible and not limited to the targeted research areas. Reputation built over a generation can be destroyed in far less time; talent lost will not return; and teaching capacity in a resource-intensive subject would be badly stretched. The proposed cuts run against a national interest in geographically distributed physics excellence, with no credible strategy offered for sustaining a research-intensive profile once a quarter of the department's physics academics are gone.
The Particle Physics and Astronomy groups at Sussex address major open questions in science, and their work is central to international and European strategic priorities for fundamental physics. The University has linked the cuts in part to reductions in STFC funding for Particle Physics, Astronomy, and Nuclear Physics, yet STFC's final allocations for this cycle are not yet confirmed.
We recognise the financial pressures the University faces, but this proposal is not a proportionate response. We call on the University's leadership to rule out compulsory redundancies and work openly with staff, students, and stakeholders on sustainable alternatives. And we call on policymakers to provide stable, long-term support for UK science.
To add your name, please sign here. Submissions are checked before they appear, so there may be a short delay.
Update 29/06/2026: We are incredibly grateful for the turnout so far. We continue to invite signatures from our academic physics colleagues and Sussex alumni.
Signatories
| Name | Institution/Affiliation | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Professor Brian Cox CBE FRS | University of Manchester | That a major UK University would consider vandalising its internationally successful Physics and Astronomy department in this way says a great deal about the health of the University sector, the 'leadership' of the University of Sussex and the current mess created by the ongoing UKRI / STFC funding debacle. I know from personal experience in Manchester that the new Prime Minister understands the immense value of Universities, economically, culturally and socially, to the cities that host them and to the UK as a whole. I hope and expect that the threats posed to physics, astronomy and indeed many other subjects at our world-leading Universities are dealt with as quickly as possible by the newly created Department of Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. These four areas of responsibility, after all, are inextricably entangled. |
| Chris Parkes FRS | Head of physics & astronomy department, University of Manchester | This is extremely concerning news in an excellent department. As shown by the IOP, PPAN subjects are the major attractor of undergraduate students to physics. Thus Sussex needs to consider the effect that singling out leading PPAN academics will have on recruitment to the department. More generally, the reliance of the UK's university funding system on international student fees risks creating areas of the country with low cohorts of physics and other lab based STEM subjects, and thus damaging the economy of those regions. |
| Sir Carlos Frenk CBE FRS | Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham University | I know the university and the astronomy centre well. The astronomy centre has a worldwide reputation for cutting-edge research of the highest quality. Many of the centre's academics are amongst the top scientists in their disciplines in the world. The proposed cuts are act of vandalism unworthy of a university of Sussex's reputation. If these cuts are a response to the STFC crisis, then they are particularly short-sighted. |
| Catherine Heymans, Astronomer Royal for Scotland | University of Edinburgh | The Sussex Physics and Astronomy department is highly regarded internationally, delivering spectacular science while simultaneously training highly skilled talent. In a recent workforce study, the Institute of Physics found a significant demand among employers for people with physics skills, with a strong and sustained growth in that demand, but not enough applicants to fill the roles. In an era of rising youth unemployment, and the rising cost of living, it's imperative that the UK retain a wide geographical distribution of Physics centres of excellence, like Sussex, to train the workforce that the UK needs. It is very shortsighted of the University management to disproportionately impact Physics & Astronomy with the upcoming redundancies, and even more shortsighted to target the high-profile areas of particle and astrophysics that are cited often as the main incentive to study Physics at University. |
| John Dainton FRS | Cockcroft Institute and Lancaster University | The proposal makes no sense whatsoever. HMG wants STEM educated citizens. Just because the newish funding agency overseers UKRI and STFC have been tripping over themselves "reorganising" funding without recourse to science drivers isn't why a reputable front-line university should panic and cut its excellence in such research-led, discovery science. Instead, one would expect such a centre of excellence to engage with staff and others to plan how to manage a difficult period. But not Sussex it seems, who suffer from short-sighted, ill informed, SMT leadership who have already effectively destroyed the morale of staff and thus trust in their leadership. That's just lazy SMT stupidity endorsed by a lazy Council.. |
| Max Pettini, FRS | Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge | It beggars belief that you are even contemplating reducing one of the most successful and internationally prominent Departments of the University of Sussex. The excellent group you have built in the PPAN research areas will take a very long time to recover if the proposed redundancies are implemented. You should reconsider this self-harming decision before it is too late. |
| Lord Martin Rees OM, FRS | Cambridge University | I had the good fortune to be a young professor at Sussex, in the days of Leggatt and Kroto. It would be relly sad if the Department's legagy of excellence weren't sustained. |
| Gavin Salam FRS | University of Oxford | I am familiar in particular with the particle theory group, which has been obtaining world-leading results years over the past years. It deserves the strongest support from the University of Sussex. |
| Aidan Robson FRSE | University of Glasgow | Particle physics is very strong in Sussex and the Sussex group is a crucial component of the UK's PPAN community! |
| Stephane Willocq | University of Massachusetts, Amherst | As Spokesperson of the ATLAS Collaboration, I am shocked to learn about the proposed drastic reduction in particle physics personnel at the University of Sussex. This group has been consistently contributing to ATLAS, the premier particle physics experiment of the past 15 years, punching above its weight in terms of leadership in both the trigger and data acquisition and the physics exploitation areas. The group currently hosts conveners and coordinators in some of the key projects, including leadership of the top-quark physics and event filter track trigger. The ATLAS experiment concluded its third extended period of data taking, recording a huge dataset that will be exploited to uncover new phenomena and provide precise tests of our current understanding of elementary particles and their interactions. This exploitation will last for the next 5-10 years. In parallel, the Sussex group and the rest of the collaboration are building a considerably upgraded version of the current detector for the high-luminosity phase of the Large Hadron Collider that will span the years 2030 to 2041. This future phase will increase the dataset by a factor of 6, again promising transformative new knowledge in particle physics. The experiment has thus a bright and long future ahead of itself, which does not warrant a sharp reduction of personnel in the Sussex group. |
| Andy Taylor FRSE | University of Edinburgh | It has been my pleasure to visit and work with colleagues in Astronomy at Sussex for many years, and am saddened and disappointed that such a world-class department should be facing such devastating cuts. We all understand that Universities are struggling with financial difficulties, but such a cut would end decades of international success in a single stroke. I hope some alternative can be found. |
| Prof. Dr. Juan Garcia-Bellido, Member of Royal Academy of Science of Spain | Universidad Autonoma de Madrid | An outstanding research group like that in PPAN Sussex can be destroyed in a day, but it will take decades to rebuild. The UK institutions under pressure (and Sussex is not the only one) are now taking the wrong decisions. These will inevitably harm the *whole* of UK Science, a paradigm of enlightenment since the seventeenth century. Such hasty measures should be carefully addressed at the National and International level and reverted with alternative funding paradigms. Surely, the effects of severe cuts in Science we are now suffering in USA and UK will propagate to neighbouring countries, and we should be prepared to stop the pandemia worldwide. |
| Jo Dunkley OBE FRS | Princeton University | It would be a great loss to our field, and to UK physics & astronomy, to make cuts of this nature to this excellent group. |
| John Peacock FRS | University of Edinburgh | The main effect of the proposed cuts will be to damage Sussex's reputation. A mass shedding of staff is not financial prudence: it is a recipe for decline. |
| Prof. Nikolaos Mavromatos | National Technical University of Athens (GR) and King's College London (UK) | I sincerely hope this decision will be reversed. Fundamental Physics (and this includes Particle Physics and Astronomy) should be preserved at all costs and remain intact at any University, especially in UK with such a tradition in it. |
| Hume Feldman FAPS | University of Kansas | The proposed compulsory redundancies at the University of Sussex, particularly the disproportionate targeting of Particle Physics and Astronomy, risk causing lasting damage to internationally recognised areas of research and teaching. These cuts would undermine scientific excellence, weaken opportunities for students, and erode the University's reputation as a leading research institution. At a time when the UK faces growing challenges in maintaining its scientific capability, reducing investment in fundamental physics sends the wrong message. Financial pressures are real, but compulsory redundancies in strategically important disciplines should be a last resort, with every effort made to protect the staff, expertise, and research communities that have taken decades to build. |
| Tara Shears OBE | University of Liverpool | These areas draw students to study physics, and this in turn helps to fill the skills gap in the UK (and beyond). Not only do our Sussex colleagues carry out amazing research, they inspire so many; cutting here is intensely damaging for our discipline and our future economic health. |
| Nigel Glover FRS | Durham University | Particle physics and astronomy are one of the, if not the, main attractors for many students. Cutting staff in this area is very short sighted and a clear sign that you are not interested in excellence. |
| Professor Alan Heavens FRSE | Imperial College | The University must be unaware of how high the international standing of Sussex Physics and Astronomy is. Attempting to improve the lot of the University by cutting back on one of its jewels makes no strategic sense. |
| Prof. Simon Hands FLSW | University of Liverpool | Please think again. |
| Mark Lancaster FRS | University of Manchester | The logic that has led to this decision is short-sighted and ill-informed. UK productivity and growth requires regional centres of Physics excellence and the research areas targeted for redundancies are precisely the ones that attract students to Sussex. Redundancies will reduce the capacity for research and Sussex’s attractiveness to students and researchers and will undermine years of long term investment. It is a profoundly stupid decision. |
| Cristina Lazzeroni FRS | University of Birmingham | I am familiar with the research and outreach work of the particle group at Sussex, and I can rightly say that is excellent on all aspects. This proposal will cause major and irrevocable harm to a department with a high-profile status in international research collaborations and national public engagement, and will greatly damage the University overall. The move is shockingly short-sighted. Please think again. |
| J. Richard Bond FRS | canadian institute for theoretical astrophysics, university of toronto | hard times in funding in britain there may be, as elsewhere, but destroying excellent institutions like sussex through major cuts to stem programs with proven drawing power within and beyond britain is a defeatist strategy driven by bureaucratic bad planning. methinks a lack of govt understanding of why people focus huge energy to be part of the hard sciences ideal, which then translates into the ideas that make the universities seed the stem economy. which young people can and do do. flows out of the universities to the benefit of all. |
| Kenneth Freeman FRS | Australian National University | Good research groups like the PPAN are easy to destroy and hard to rebuild. Please reconsider: their loss has international impact |
| Bernard F Schutz FRS | Cardiff University | As other comments have pointed out, particle physics and astronomy are the major attractors of undergraduates to physics, and physics is one of the government's priority fields. Sussex should not panic before the battle (at a high level) to establish a more sensible funding level for these subjects is still going on. |
| Ifan Hughes FLSW | Durham University | I was trained as a researcher at Sussex Physics Department. This is a short-sighted decision. Solidarity to colleagues at Sussex! |
| Sera Markoff, Fellow APS, KNAW | Plumian Professor, University of Cambridge | Similar closures in the past were short-sighted and backfired because Physics and Astronomy are huge draws for students, and the cuts resulted in a big drop in student enrolment (they vote with their feet). It is also unwise for the UK as a whole to lose the training that has led to economically beneficial innovations such as space exploration and AI. |
| Tamara Davis AM FAA | The University of Queensland | The University of Sussex astrophysicists have an excellent reputation internationally and sustained evidence of excellence in the field. Even as a researcher from Australia I know and have collaborated with this group. It would be a real shame to lose this expertise and experience. |
| Brian Foster FRS, OBE | University of Oxford | |
| Anne-Christine Davis, OBE | DAMTP, University of Cambridge | |
| Richard D Ball FRSE | University of Edinburgh | |
| Christopher Sachrajda FRS | University of Southampton | |
| Chris Hull FRS | Imperial College | |
| John Ellis FRS | King's College London | |
| Graham Shore FLSW | Swansea University | |
| Guy Wilkinson FRS | University of Oxford | |
| Andrew Fabian OBE FRS | University of Cambridge | |
| Gerard Milburn FRS | University of Sussex | |
| Dave Charlton FRS | University of Birmingham | |
| Gerry Gilmore FRS | Cambridge | |
| Roberto Maiolino FRS | University of Cambridge | |
| Harry Cliff FInstP | University of Cambridge | |
| Robert Brandenberger, FRSC | McGill University | |
| Prof Geoff Hall FRS | Imperial College | |
| Nigel Goldenfeld FRS, Member of US National Academy of Sciences | University of California San Diego (signing in private capacity) | |
| Cathie Clarke FRS | Co-Director, Institute of Astronomy Cambridge | |
| Edward Kolb | University of Chicago | |
| Nial Tanvir FRS | University of Leicester | |
| Fay Dowker | Imperial College | Colleagues in the particle physics and astronomy groups at University of Sussex are internationally renowned physicists with many important contributions to make in the future. They have made the Department into a major centre and I always recommend students to apply for PhDs at Sussex when they ask where they should apply for PhDs in theoretical physics and cosmology. It is outrageous that such esteemed academics are being threatened with redundancy. The Senior Management at University of Sussex should reconsider this act of extreme self-harm. |
| Ian Moss | Newcastle University | I can hardly believe these internationally recognised figures are under threat of redundancy. |
| Glenn Starkman | Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Ohio, USA | The University of Sussex has for decades had an outstanding international reputation in cosmology, astrophysics, and particle physics. Such reputations are hard won, quickly lost, and difficult to recover. It seems foolish to squander what has taken so much care and investment to build over generations. |
| Ruth Gregory | King's College London | This decision is presumably being made on "business" grounds - i.e. by some bean counting. While it is regrettable that STFC have ignored the importance of FEC; this crisis should be a wake up call to government to decide whether or not we want to remain competitive as a nation in science. Science cannot be sustained without blue skies thinkers - the truly disruptive advances are made by people prepared to follow a question and not a "program". |
| Nick Evans | University of Southampton | PPAN science is crucial to motivating young people to enter science and this will surely further damage your science departments. PPAN work is a major source of innovation in UK plc - eg CERN invented the web - are you going to do without your web site? Please join those lobbying government to protect hard science in UK universities. |
| Dan Tovey | University of Sheffield | I'm familiar with the excellent work being undertaken at Sussex as an External Research Advisor and have to say that this proposal risks major and irrevocable harm to a strongly performing department. I'm most familiar with the work of the EPP group - this group is conducting really high quality fundamental research of very high profile within several world-leading international collaborations, and EPP group members hold high profile leadership positions in many of the most exciting areas. I would also note that Sussex is a world-leader in fundamental physics outreach in the global south - this expertise really is irreplaceable. The proposed cuts, if they go ahead, would constitute a mortal wound to the worldwide physics community. |
| Francesco Sannino | Director Quantum Theory Center at Danish IAS and Southern Denmark University and Professor of Theoretical Physics at Federico II University, Italy | I strongly support the call to protect Physics and Astronomy at Sussex. I have had direct scientific interactions with colleagues there and know from experience the quality, seriousness and international reach of the research environment that Sussex has built. These are not groups that can be weakened without consequence: they are part of the intellectual fabric of UK and international fundamental physics. The proposed cuts would therefore not simply reduce staffing numbers; they would damage a recognised centre of expertise in particle physics, astronomy and cosmology, with consequences for research, teaching, student recruitment, international collaborations and long-term institutional reputation. Research environments of this quality take decades to build and cannot be reconstructed once dispersed. Weakening them would be a short-sighted decision with lasting scientific and reputational costs well beyond Sussex. |
| Mark Trodden | University of Pennsylvania | As a cosmology student in the UK, I was very aware of four major intellectual centers for this work - Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, and Sussex. Sussex has consistently been an impressive force in physics and astronomy, and it has been one of the main leaders in this work over the several decades since I left the UK. Now, as someone who has held leadership roles in physics and astronomy departments and universities, I can say that Sussex remains one of the places I think of when I think of leading edge work in my field in the UK. The idea of cutting any of this strength is disastrous. I strongly urge a rethinking of this short-sighted plan. |
| Jun'ichi Yokoyama | Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, The University of Tokyo | Sussex University is widely recognized even in Japan for its outstanding contributions to particle physics and astronomy, and for the many distinguished scientists it has trained. The proposed cuts to physics and astronomy staff would inflict lasting damage not only on the University but also on Britain's long and proud tradition of scientific excellence. Such an irreversible decision must not be allowed to proceed. |
| Steve King | University of Southampton | I urge the management to reconsider its decision to reduce by around 35 per cent the academic staff in Experimental Particle Physics, Theoretical Particle Physics and the Astronomy Centre. Research in fundamental physics provides the foundation for the whole of physics and hence its applications and contributions to the economy. I can testify that the Sussex faculty in this area are world class researchers who are well known in their field., and these proposed cuts could harm the reputation of UK as an international research partner. Many undergraduates are attracted into physics by their interest in particle physics and astronomy, and I believe cuts of this magnitude could also risk the viability of an undergraduate program in physics at one of the leading UK Universities on in the South of England. I therefore believe it is in the short and long term interests of the University of Sussex to seriously reconsider this proposal. |
| Jon Butterworth | University College London | I know the department well, having been external research advisor for several years. It is excellent, and this is a self-destructive and short-sighted approach. |
| Eric Linder | University of California, Berkeley | Sussex Physics and Astronomy has a number of exceptional faculty and worldwide impact. Cuts now would lead to lasting damage and degradation of the university. |
| David Weir | University of Helsinki | Besides the research standing of the Department, widely praised by other signatories, I wish to highlight the innovative means by which academics in the Department have sought to raise standards in teaching and learning, and the ways in which they bring in additional income, such as through the Intensive Introductory Physics summer school. Cutting staffing levels may make these additional ventures unsustainable, making the Department as a whole less viable. Have these factors been taken into account? |
| Giulia Zanderighi | Max Planck Institute for Physics | Compulsory redundancies at the University of Sussex would damage the University's reputation for many years to come. Concentrating these cuts on the particle theory group, which has consistently produced internationally recognised, frontier research, is particularly unfair and would have lasting negative consequences for the University's research profile and standing. |
| Paul Saffin | University of Nottingham | This is another appalling decision by a UK University. These short-term decisions are made by short-term managers with no care for the long-term effects their disastrous decisions leave behind, when they swan-off to their next executive posting. As a recent external examiner for the Physics and Astronomy degrees I was impressed by the standard of education on offer, and the dedication of the staff. These staff are World-leading researchers in their field who are now being let down by short-sighted management. It takes years to build up groups like the one at Sussex - the University Council and Executive board should be ashamed and removed from post. |
| Tim Gershon | University of Warwick | Sussex has an excellent reputation in PPAN science, which is at risk of going down the drain. |
| Clare Burrage | University of Nottingham | The proposed cuts will cause irreversable harm to research groups whose leadership is recognised around the world. They will also have a significant impact on student recruitment, as these are the areas that attract students to study physics. Cutting academic staff in an attempt to solve short term financial problems has significant long term costs, both financial and reputational. The University of Sussex should identify solutions to its current challenges that do not damage the health of its Physics department, or the UK's reputation for scientific leadership. |
| Raju Venugopalan | Stony Brook University and Univ. of Edinburgh | The UK has a much deserved reputation for world class research in physics; such cuts would do irretrievable damage to its stature. Such cuts have a cascading effect which will seriously impact innovation and impact of Science and Technology in the UK. This is a step backwards. |
| Monica D'Onofrio | University of Liverpool | As ATLAS UK National Contact, with responsibility for coordinating activities across the 15 UK institutions participating in the ATLAS experiment at CERN, I wish to express my most serious concern regarding the proposed redundancies within the Physics Department at the University of Sussex. Sussex has been a long-standing and highly valued member of the UK ATLAS community, making major contributions to the success of the experiment while training generations of students and early-career researchers. The Sussex ATLAS group has developed internationally recognised expertise in trigger systems, precision top-quark measurements and searches for physics beyond the Standard Model, has played important leadership roles within the collaboration, and will play a crucial role in the HL-LHC era. The proposed redundancies extend well beyond ATLAS, threatening a vibrant and internationally recognised group of researchers working across particle physics, astrophysics and theory at Sussex. These proposals come at a critical time, when supporting internationally competitive research groups and training the next generation of scientists is more important than ever. I therefore urge the University of Sussex to reconsider these proposals in light of the department's scientific excellence and its importance to the future of UK physics. |
| Romeel Davé | University of Edinburgh, Chair of Physics | Sussex astronomy has in recent times consistently punched above its weight in community impact relative to its staff size, and leads innovative education and outreach projects as well. To reduce staffing of such a successful group does not make much sense. I urge the administration to carefully consider its highly negative impact on the reputation of Sussex University and its support of astrophysics and STEM in general, which would take substantial time and effort to repair. |
| Arttu Rajantie | Imperial College London | Sussex is a leading UK centre for Physics and Astronomy. It is where I held my first postdoctoral position, having been attracted by the high quality of work in its theoretical particle physics group. Therefore, it is thanks to Sussex that I am now working in the UK. More recently, I served as an external examiner for the undergraduate Physics programmes and was equally impressed by the department’s teaching. These proposed redundancies are deeply short‑sighted and risk causing lasting damage not only to the University of Sussex, but to the UK’s scientific strength as a whole. |
| Davide Costanzo | University of Sheffield. ATLAS Collaboration Board Chair | As the chair of the ATLAS collaboration board I am shocked to see this attempt to make staff redundant in a great research group. While I appreciate the financial pressure the University of Sussex is at the moment, this is an extremely short-sighted approach. Such a move will not only compromise the brilliant research done in the physics department, but will also make it much harder to attract students and young professionals who are fascinated by the work we do in particle physics and astronomy. |
| Tracy Slatyer | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | I will second the comments from many others that Sussex particle physics and astronomy researchers are doing excellent, world-leading work on topics that I follow closely. These cuts, if implemented, will be a loss to Sussex, to the UK, and more broadly to the global research effort in fundamental physics and astronomy. Beyond the loss of great scientists who are currently academic staff, it will be harder to recruit top-notch researchers to Sussex in the future if they know that excellence is no protection; as the letter says, "Reputation built over a generation can be destroyed in far less time; talent lost will not return". I hope the relevant decision-makers can take a long-term view and find a way to preserve the strength of the Physics Department and PPAN research groups. |
| Prof. Leigh Whitehead | University of Cambridge | This is terrible news and will undo years of excellent work from the HEP group, and substantially diminish the international reputation and standing of the university. |
| Benjamin Wandelt | The Johns Hopkins University | Threatening this group of world-leading astronomers and particle physicists with redundancy is a disgrace that harms Sussex University’s reputation as an international research university. Following through would be a spectacular own goal. |
| Gary Bernstein | University of Pennsylvania | Many Sussex astronomers were our valued colleagues on the Dark Energy Survey, and contribute strongly to the educational mission of the University. |
| Aurelio Juste | ICREA/IFAE-Barcelona | As ATLAS Physics Coordinator, I was deeply concerned to learn of the proposed redundancies affecting the Experimental Particle Physics, Theoretical Particle Physics, and Astronomy Centre at the University of Sussex. I am most familiar with the ATLAS group, which has earned an outstanding international reputation within our collaboration through its major contributions to the ATLAS trigger system, searches for new phenomena, and several other key areas of the experiment. The Sussex group has consistently played an important role in advancing the ATLAS scientific programme and is a highly valued partner within our collaboration. The LHC programme is entering an exceptionally exciting phase, with the scientific exploitation of the full Run 3 dataset now underway and preparations for the High-Luminosity LHC rapidly advancing. The next two decades promise some of the most significant discoveries and precision measurements in particle physics. The proposed redundancies are therefore profoundly short-sighted. They risk undermining the return on decades of investment in expertise, infrastructure, and international collaboration, severely limiting the future scientific impact of the Sussex group. Beyond their local consequences, these cuts would weaken an internationally recognised contributor to the ATLAS experiment and diminish the standing of both the University of Sussex and the UK within one of the world's flagship scientific enterprises. |
| Justin Evans | University of Manchester | Sussex has spent decades establishing itself as an international leader in particle physics and astronomy. Cutting a third of its academics would squander that status overnight. |
| Dr David Clements | Imperial College London | Loss of staff at Sussex could put major international projects, such as NASA and ESA space missions, at risk, which would be a major reputational problem for both Sussex and the UK |
| Malcolm Fairbairn | Kings College London | Decisions like this damage the credibility of UK institutions as a destination for the best researchers. You will always be able to recruit young academics. The question you should ask yourselves is will this behaviour help you attract the best academics? |
| Roman Pöschl | Laboratoire des 2 Infinis Irene Joliot Curie - IJCLab CNRS/IN2P3 | Over the years I have built up sustained relations to the members and groups of the Particle Physics Department of the University of Sussex. I am thus qualified to judge on the excellency that is present in this faculty. As examples let me mention hardware and software contributions to early prototypes within CALICE of highly granular calorimeters which gave e.g. the incentive to large calorimeter projects as the CMS HGCAL. Currently the groups are for example active in Dual Readout Calorimetry and calorimetry based on MAPS sensors in the frame of the DRD Calo collaboration. Both are promising technologies for next generation detectors. I am writing this statement as a scientist but let me point out that I am also the Spokesperson of the DRD Calo Collaboration. I therefore allow myself to express also in the name of the DRD Calo collaboration my appeal for handling the redundancy measures with extreme care, ruling out compulsory redundancy and for ensuring open communication on measures and decision. |
| Lorenzo Tancredi | Technical University of Munich | I know well the particle theory group, whose members have been doing world class research on some of the most pressing topics in the field. |
| Andrew Pilkington | Head of Particle Physics, University of Manchester | I was shocked to hear this news. Colleagues at Sussex are making major contributions to multiple international particle physics experiments. The proposed cuts are short sighted and undeserved. |
| Stewart Boogert | Cockcroft Institute (Director) and University of Manchester | Universities are custodians of knowledge, capability and skills. Retreating from particle physics and astronomy is a mistake, and I urge senior colleagues in Sussex to reconsider |
| David Bacon | Director, Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth | These outstanding physicists at the University of Sussex have a major impact on the international stage. We are honoured to have them as our highly respected neighbours. They are an irreplaceable, tremendous credit to the University; I urge the University's leaders to reconsider this course of action. |
| Prof. Dr. Juan Rojo | Head of Physics Department, VU Amsterdam | Theoretical and experimental particle physics at the University of Sussex are widely acknowledge of carry out impactful research at the highest level. I really hope the University reconsiders these damaging plans and draft news ones together with the staff - a solution must come from a constructive conversation between all stakeholders, rather than from top-down impositions which will significantly damage the university and the department in ways very difficult to recover from. |
| Alessandro Tricoli | Brookhaven National Laboratory | The ATLAS group at the University of Sussex has given critical contribution to the LHC and particle physics as a whole. Such cuts in staffing are very concerning as will impact directly the research at the LHC. It is to be highlighted that once such cuts are implemented and experts leave, the expertise is permanently lost: it has taken generation to reach such level of expertise and make impactful contribution to science, and will take more generations to re-establish them in the future. I urge the University of Sussex to reconsider such a decision. |
| Timothy Clifton | QMUL | Sussex is one the UK's leading universities for cosmology research, and you should not be considering any cuts in this flagship research group. |
| Hiranya Peiris | Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University | This is an extremely shortsighted move, likely to erase decades of world-leading excellence in a short period of time. Early in my career I was inspired by the new ideas and innovative methodology coming out of the Sussex cosmology group, and to this day it is at the forefront of major international efforts to understand the origin and evolution of the Universe. Please reconsider this terrible direction. |
| Cesare Bini | Sapienza Università di Roma and INFN Roma | I am convinced that a consolidated research program in fundamental physics—spanning both theoretical and experimental work— as the one presently conducted at University of Sussex, is a crucial element in any university-level science education. To cut funding for these specific fields will reduce, on the long term, the scientific level of the University. |
| Anne Green | University of Nottingham | The Sussex Astronomy and Particle Physics groups do world-leading research and teach subjects that are extremely popular with Physics students. Cuts this large would be extremely difficult to recover from. |
| Prof Robert Crain | Liverpool John Moores University | A short-sighted proposal. Physics departments are easy to tear down and near-impossible to rebuild. Best wishes to Sussex Physics colleagues. |
| José Maneira | University of Lisbon | I have collaborated closely with colleagues from the University of Sussex since more than 20 years, in both Neutrino and High Energy Physics. This proposed reduction is very unfair and short-sighted. It will deeply affect the lives of an academic and research community that has dedicated years, decades, to building a dynamic and internationally recognised Physics Department. It will also of course affect those that remain, and the reputation of the University as a whole. Such a blunt cut will be very hard, probably impossible, to recover from. I would hope that there is still a chance to find alternatives to such a grave mistake. |
| Professor Frazer Pearce | University of Nottingham | As a Sussex Physics & Astronomy alumnus, D.Phil 1992, followed by a postdoctoral position, I strongly object to the proposed job cuts in the department. Physics and astronomy are precisely the kind of blue-skies research areas that act as the canary in the coal mine for a serious university: they are not always the ones bringing in large equipment grants, but they signal intellectual ambition, research depth, and long-term institutional health. Cutting such capacity is therefore not a tidy accounting measure; it is an extremely bad sign. It tells staff, students, funders, and future applicants that the university is prepared to trade its academic substance for short-term financial gain. Once that capability is lost, rebuilding it is slow, expensive, and often impossible. |
| Andreas Brandhuber | Queen Mary University of London | It is hard to believe that this internationally recognised group is under threat of redundancy. Such shortsighted cuts will cause irreparable damage to the reputation of Sussex. |
| Pasquale Di Bari | University of Southampton | This would be an unjustified short-sighted decision undermining the whole UK physics and astronomy community power and credibility to attract talented people at all levels. It will certainly have a knock on effect. I am not aware of any other world physics and astronomy department of the top level of Sussex where such a decision has been taken. Please reconsider it. |
| Peter Millington | University of Manchester | Short-sighted, knee-jerk affronts on PPAN science such as this represent an embarrassing own goal for the higher education sector, the UK's science base, its global scientific leadership, and the economic growth that this drives. |
| Christopher Clark | Space Telescope Science Institute / ESA | These cuts would be the university cutting off its nose to spite its face. The loss of teaching labour, research standing, and overall talent, will drive away students, funding, and reputation for years to come. |
| Thomas Gehrmann | University of Zurich | The academics of the Particle Physics and Astronomy groups at the University of Sussex have a sustained track record of high-impact research in their respective fields of activity. They contribute substantially to the international reputation of their University. The currently discussed cuts and compulsory redundancies will likely destroy the coherence and competitive edge of the groups. Besides their imminent scientific impact, they also go against the long-established concept of academic tenure, and would make the administration of the University of Sussex a misfit on the international scene. Please reconsider. |
| Katherine Freese | University of Texas, Austin | Your physics department is a jewel! Please do not dismantle it!! |
| Susan Cartwright | University of Sheffield | As others have said, this seems like a needless and self-destructive attack on a world-leading research group. While STFC is currently experiencing financial difficulties, there is no reason to believe that this situation will persist, whereas such a drastic cut in the personnel of a university group will cause damage that cannot be easily rectified when the financial climate changes. Also, again as others have said, astronomy and particle physics are known to be major factors in attracting undergraduates to study physics - has the University carried out any modelling regarding the likely impact on future student recruitment (and therefore income)? One suspects not. Furthermore, cuts of this size initiate a vicious cycle - fewer academics implies more teaching per academic, which implies less research time per academic, which impacts on future research income. In addition, particle physics and astronomy are two of the most international of research disciplines, so the sacking of prominent researchers in these fields cannot help but have a negative impact on the University's international reputation. Universities throughout the UK are currently under pressure financially, but targeting an internationally respected research group seems entirely counter-productive. |
| William Barter | University of Edinburgh | The Particle Physics group in Sussex has a very high international standing having led some of the most important studies at the Large Hadron Collider and beyond; these proposed cuts would be a devastating loss to the wider Particle Physics community. |
| Henning Flaecher | University of Bristol | Incredibly short sighted and reputationally damaging. Particle and Astro Physics are still what attracts many students to physics at university. |
| Christophe GROJEAN | DESY and Humboldt University | Thinking one can solve today problems by cutting funding for education and research is endangering everyone's future. And the future is starting now. |
| Jerome Gauntlett | Imperial College, London | The proposed cuts, including the dismissal of internationally renowned scientists, are extraordinarily short-sighted. They will inflict lasting damage on the international reputation of the University of Sussex and further undermine confidence in UK higher education more generally. It is profoundly disheartening to see academic excellence and scholarship treated with such contempt. The University's senior management should urgently rethink this course of action. |
| Einan Gardi | University of Edinburgh | Shocking news. Sussex managed to build an impressive group -- don't break it! |
| Prof. Julien Lesgourgues | RWTH Aachen University | The Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex has long enjoyed an exceptional international reputation. It is home to researchers who are international leaders in their field and who help to give the university a prestigious image. Any attempt to downsize this department seems surreal and extremely counterproductive on the part of the university. |
| Christoph Englert | University of Manchester | Academics in Physics and Astronomy at Sussex have established the University as an internationally recognised institution for research and teaching. |
| Gary Barker | Warwick | I would urge the university to reconsider their position - a disproportionate response to the current funding issues clearly will weaken the chances of a fast recovery. The Sussex group has world class expertise that cannot be built up again overnight. |
| Jeff Forshaw | University of Manchester | The theoretical and experimental particle physics in Sussex is world class. I am shocked to hear of this. |
| Prof Veronique Boisvert | Centre for Particle Physics & Astronomy Group Leader | I collaborate with the experimental particle physics group at Sussex and they are of the highest calibre, any volume reduction in that group would be a great loss nationally. |
| Dr Sarah Williams | University of Cambridge | I am shocked and disappointed to hear that academics in Experimental Particle Physics, Theoretical Physics and Astronomy are being singled out in the proposed cuts at the University of Sussex. In my career on the ATLAS experiment at CERN I have benefitted from many outstanding collaborators and instrumental academic mentors from the Sussex High Energy Physics Group. Their research is excellent and Sussex academics hold key leadership roles in a broad range of areas across the ATLAS collaboration. Particle Physics, Astronomy and Nuclear (PPAN) physics has been shown to be a key driver in attracting excellent undergraduates in physics and these measures threaten the health of the UK university sector, the talent pipeline into the national and international research and innovation ecosystem. It also undermines the progress that has been made towards making physics is accessible across all regions of the UK. |
| Dave Sutherland | University of Glasgow | PPAN academics at Sussex do top-tier, internationally recognised research. The proposed redundancies would significantly harm the field and the University's reputation. |
| Prof. Ryan Cooke | Durham University | I support the excellent faculty members at The University of Sussex particle physics and astronomy groups. I think there is something fundamental that is not being considered. Many undergraduate and postgraduate students want to learn particle physics and astrophysics, and these topics train graduates with a range of desirable high level skills. I think those that are proposing this decision may not fully appreciate at this time what they'll miss out on if this careless decision goes forward. |
| Prof. Justin I. Read | University of Surrey | Proposed cuts of this magnitude will do irreperable harm to one of the leading physics departments in the Country. As an external examiner for Sussex, I can confirm that the scale of these cuts will negatively impact teaching and learning and have the potential to harm student numbers. As someone who has recently been through similar cuts at my own institution, there is every chance that damage like this will last for decades. There is an unwritten contract in academia that faculty take a lower salary than they would likely get in the private sector in exchange for the ability to follow their research passion and have strong job security and a good pension. With pensions and job security materially harmed, this contract is broken. Unless we step back from the brink, the next generation of academic talent will not come to the UK or will not enter academia. Our world-leading Universities will suffer, and the country will lose one of its real economic strengths. |
| John March-Russell | Oxford University | This is an extremely poorly thought-out proposal by Sussex. It is likely a direct result of the recent failures of the UK Government (the UKRI & STFC funding councils) to understand how excellent physics research and education actually works and to provide a stable funding environment, rather than the very substantial cuts we are experiencing. Research in PPAN is one of the primary attractors of good students into STEM, not just physics, as often youngsters get early motivation to study science via the excitement of PPAN topics, and then later move into adjacent subjects such engineering, medicine, computing, statistics, or mathematics. Moreover, many of the world's top AI and Machine Learning researchers and practitioners were PPAN students or PhD's, and start their careers in PPAN (for instance, look at the leading figures at Anthropic). They then join top AI companies, or take part joint industry-university work. I know this by direct experience of my past PPAN undergraduate and PhD students, many of whom now work in this area. Even by narrow short-term economic criteria the UK Government is making exceptionally foolish decisions, and the long-term impacts on the health and vitality of the UK economy and UK research (both in universities and outside) will be profound. |
| Ed Daw | The University of Sheffield | Like Nottingham, Sussex opts to go down the foolish route of downsizing a subject in an important growth area. The sizes of student cohorts wax and wane; just because less students are signing up to X this year doesn't mean that next year you won't get 1.2X, and several years later 3X. A University is just that - a University. It is a seat of learning. A corporate model for running a seat of learning is wholly inappropriate, and a modern trend that I am looking forward to going out of fashion. There is also the concern that this is a race to the bottom; the remaining staff will have much higher teaching and admin loads, so they won't be as effective at research, and will therefore bring in less grant income, so the money you are saving by downsizing you will almost certainly lose through this mechanism in short order. Please reconsider this foolish proposal. |
| Simon Driver | University of Western Australia | As a frequent visitor to University of Sussex it is shocking to hear of the proposed savage cuts to the Physics and Astronomy group. This is an extremely well balanced, talented and active group involved in most of the global frontier science programs. These cuts will be a self-inflicted wound happening at exactly the time we as a society are desperate for Physics literate graduates, and physics based solutions. Any university without a strong active Physics department is not a University worth attending. |
| Ben Maughan | University of Bristol | The Astronomy Group at Sussex are world leaders and are highly regarded for the quality and impact of their research. Astronomy and particle physics are established as drivers of undergraduate recruitment. Cuts to these research areas at Sussex would be hugely damaging to both research excellence and student numbers and experience. |
| Steve Cunnington | University of Portsmouth | Temporary funding pressures should not drive permanent strategic damage. PPAN funding can and likely will be restored through sustained lobbying, but cuts of this scale dismantle expertise that cannot be quickly rebuilt. These actions risk leaving the University of Sussex unable to fully recover its strength in Physics and Astronomy when the funding landscape improves. |
| Professor Andrew H. Jaffe | Imperial College | These cuts are disproportionate response to a real crisis, gutting a group that has made and continues to make significant contributions to the research and teaching of physics and astrophysics. |
| Valya Khoze | IPPP Durham University | Strong support for Sussex Physics & Astronomy colleagues! |
| Tim Burns | Swansea University | The proposed cuts would do irreversible damage to the future of research in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex, which has a well-deserved reputation as a UK leader in the field. |
| Sophie Newman | University of Portsmouth | Many of the most talented collaborators I know are at risk of losing their jobs and this would be a huge loss to the scientific community, both in Sussex and elsewhere. |
| Christian Gütschow | University College London | As deputy MCnet spokesperson, representing an international network dedicated to particle-physics software development and training, I am deeply dismayed by the proposed cuts to Sussex’s internationally recognised Particle Physics and Astronomy groups. At a time when governments, universities, and industry are investing heavily in AI, machine learning, scientific computing, and quantum technologies, it is difficult to understand the rationale for weakening disciplines that help develop both the underlying methods and the highly skilled people these sectors depend upon. Sussex has earned a global reputation not only through its experimental programmes, but also through world-leading contributions to theoretical particle physics, precision calculations, and the software tools relied upon by researchers worldwide to interpret data from the LHC and other major experiments. These groups play vital roles in advancing our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature, training the next generation of scientists and innovators, and engaging the public with science through internationally recognised outreach activities. The loss of expertise, capability, and reputation resulting from these proposals would be difficult to reverse and would extend far beyond Sussex itself. I strongly urge the University to reconsider this damaging and short-sighted course of action. |
| Professor Paul Soler | University of Glasgow | This is a short-sighted and highly unfortunate decision. As a former external examiner at Sussex, I can attest to the professionalism and quality of the staff in Physics and Astronomy, particularly those in the Particle Physics and Astronomy research areas. I believe that this is a decision of dubious rationale. Why would you reduce the number of staff that are carrying out world class particle physics research, and delivering world-leading results at the frontiers of physics and astronomy? This will damage the international reputation of the university in the eyes of colleagues and students. It is only by attracting excellent students from the UK and abroad that the university will be able to dig itself out of the hole that it created. Reducing staff in these world-class areas will only reduce the appeal of Sussex as a student destination, creating a downward spiral that will lead to more jobs losses. This is a flawed and highly detrimental decision to the interests of the University of Sussex. Senior management should be ashamed of themselves! |
| Roman Zwicky | Edinburgh University | Such decisions are not a solution but rather the beginning of a much bigger problem. Namely, irreversible damage in reputation, impacting future hiring in staff and students on a national and international level. Besides that, Sussex particle physics is a world class research group and short-term problems with STFC-funding do not justify such drastic measures either. Shocking and shortsighted! |
| Seshadri Nadathur | University of Portsmouth | This is a very difficult time for universities everywhere, but cuts like this are self-defeating. A department that imposes compulsory redundancies like this will not attract the best research talent, and will not only lose future research income but also the harm the university's image and prestige, bringing lower admissions too. |
| Giuseppe Lerner | CERN | The Sussex PPAN is where I completed my PhD as part of the ATLAS collaboration at CERN. It is a vibrant department with a long-standing reputation for excellence in research and teaching, and hearing about the prospect of major cuts was deeply shocking. Such reductions would inflict lasting and irreversible harm on a department that plays a vital role in advancing UK science and strengthening its standing in the international research community. I sincerely hope that solutions can be found to prevent this outcome, or at the very least to mitigate the workforce reductions compared with the current draconian proposal. |
| Lado Samushia | Kansas State University | The physics and astrophysics groups are producing world top quality research. University should be proud of them and support them by all means. |
| Ennio Salvioni | Autonomous University of Barcelona and IFAE, Spain | As a former academic staff member in the Theoretical Particle Physics group, I was attracted from overseas to Sussex because of its world-class research programme in PPAN fundamental science. The damage the proposed staff reduction would bring, if realised, is unmeasurable and would propagate far beyond the affected research groups. The loss in reputation and trust the University would face cannot be overstated. |
| Jonas Rademacker | University of Bristol | An act of vandalism against fundamental science, against an internationally leading group of scientist, and against the University of Sussex itself. Whoever proposed that should sack themselves. |
| Prof. Bogdan Strfanski | City St. George's, University of London | Short-sighted cuts to fundamental science will significantly erode the international standing of Sussex. Cuts to basic research funding while subsidising private companies using tax payer money risk further undermining the knowledge-increasing societal pathways at at time when it is more vital than ever for the UK to remain a world leader in a science based innovation economy. |
| Aaron S.G Robotham | ICRAR-UWA | I’ve had the good fortune to work with astronomers from the University of Sussex for nearly 20 years. It is without doubt one of the premier science institutes in the country, and the astronomy faculty are a beacon of excellence both nationally and internationally. It is extremely distressing to think they aren’t fully appreciated by senior management within their own institution. Building a group of this stature takes multiple generations of concerted effort and consistent support. Unfortunately, it only takes a few months to completely destroy this legacy for good. I fear Sussex could become another national victim of wrongheaded government prioritisation, and shortsighted commercialisation by University management. It’s never too late to rethink a terrible decision, and I hope somebody with influence pulls back from this potential disaster. |
| Jonathan McDowell | Durham University | The astronomy group at the University of Sussex has had a worldwide reputation for excellence for half a century at least. Slashing it is a travesty. |
| Timothy Cohen | CERN/University of Oregon | The University of Sussex theory group is a world leader. They should be protected from these crippling cuts at all cost! There must be a better way! |
| Antonio Padilla | University of Nottingham | The cosmologists at Sussex are, without doubt, world leading. Going after them and other brilliant Physicists is an act of academic sabotage. We know all too well how they are feeling right now. Modern university leaders in the UK just talk amongst themselves about the latest fad, having lost all understanding of what universities are really for: the pursuit of knowledge and understanding - something the Physicists at Sussex do brilliantly. They should be celebrated - not handed redundancy letters. Solidarity to them. Shame on management |
| Xan Morice-Atkinson | Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth | Redundancies aren't the answer and will cost more in the long-term. |
| Alex Hall | University of Edinburgh | It is shocking that such a world leading centre for physics and astronomy faces redundancies. This is part of a deeply concerning trend across UK Higher Education whereby departments engaged in high-profile STEM innovation and teaching are bearing the brunt of strategic blunders by university senior management. |
| Pavel Buividovich | University of Liverpool | Very short-sighted decision that would be impossible to reverse if implemented and would significantly damage the University's reputation and rankings |
| David Schaich | University of Liverpool | The long-term costs of reducing the world-class Particle Physics and Astronomy research groups at Sussex will dwarf any short-term savings that may be obtained. These costs range from undermining student recruitment (as documented by the Institute of Physics) to losing out on research grant income (from the ERC and other UKRI funding streams such as quantum, in addition to the STFC PPAN portfolio), alongside broader damage to the institution's reputation and rankings. |
| Dr Helen Russell | University of Nottingham | Astrophysics research at Sussex is world-leading. The critical-thinking skills taught to Physics undergraduates by these staff members will be utterly essential in a job market reshaped by AI. These cuts are unbelievably short-sighted and nationally damaging. |
| Pedro Teixeira-Dias | Royal Holloway, University of London | I happen to know well the experimental and theoretical particle physics and astrophysics group at Sussex. They are a top-notch group, packed with outstanding talent and recognized as world class in their activity, consistently exploring the most exciting science questions in the field. Notwithstanding the current financial challenges in the field - which will be overcome - it seems reckless and senseless to target such an excellent and productive group in this disproportionate way. It is good to see the enormous strength of support for the Sussex group in clear evidence here. I too am very happy to lend my full support to our Sussex colleagues and ask the University to reconsider their approach. |
| Gregory Soyez | CNRS, CEA Saclay | Physics and Astronomy have always held a central role in fundamental research. The group at the University of Sussex is an important part of this endeavour. It has repeatedly proven its value at the international level with several key contributions. This effort deserves all the support it can get to maintain such a high-quality activity. |
| Dr Agamemnon Sfondilis (PhD in Theoretical Particle Physics) | This is a deeply disturbing time for physics and science more broadly. These cuts will not only result in the loss of brilliant researchers whose work could have made significant contributions to our understanding of the world, but they will also send a damaging message to future generations. As opportunities in physics diminish, fewer young people will choose to pursue careers in science. The long-term consequences of this loss of talent and ambition will be felt far beyond our institutions, weakening the future of scientific discovery and innovation. | |
| David Cussans | University of Bristol | Great people doing great research. |
| David Britton | University of Glasgow | For many years, Sussex has been a valued contributor to the ATLAS experiment, and to the global computing infrastructure required to process the data, through the GridPP and WLCG projects. The physics extracted is recognised as the highest Particle Physics priority within the UK and Europe: It makes absolutely no sense for cuts to target this area. |
| David Wands | Professor of Cosmology, University of Portsmouth | Having started my academic career in the Astronomy Centre at the University of Sussex, I know what a special place Sussex is, attracting top researchers from around the world. As a graduate student, I was able to learn from world-leading scientists who have helped shape our understanding of the cosmos. Drastic cuts to the academic staff in physics and astronomy at Sussex, threaten to undermine the UK's research leadership and our ability to attract and educate the next generation of scientists. |
| Bipasha Chakraborty | University of Southampton | Sussex particle and astro physics groups have made a global impact through their world-class research and teaching. This proposition will be a huge loss for UK's fundamental science. |
| Konstantinos Perridis | University of Bristol | An astonishing act of vandalism by Sussex's management. PPAN research areas are what attract the lions share of students into physics, generate technological innovation, and train industry's workforce. This proposal will solve nothing both in the short- or long-term. The only thing it achieves is to demonstrate to the world how incompetent Sussex's management is. |
| Maxim Pospelov | University of Minnesota | |
| Prof. Daniela Bortoletto, Head of the Subdepartment of Particle Physics | University of Oxford | |
| Mrinal Dasgupta | University of Manchester | |
| Kieran Wood | University of Nottingham | This seems an unbelievably short-sighted decision that is tantamount to academic vandalism. As others have said, the Particle Physics and Astronomy departments at Sussex are genuinely world-leading. Any short-term savings made will soon be offset by the various knock-on effects that such a decision guarantees for the reputation of the university and in turn its future recruitment of both students and researchers, ability to secure grant funding etc etc. Full solidarity from Nottingham, where we know all too well how important it is to stand up for the fundamental purpose of what a university should be, a purpose those holding the reins in universities across the UK would do well to remember. |
| Evie L. Papadopoulou | BeDimensional S.p.A. | I graduated from MAPS in 1996. |
| Dan Pryer | Sussex Physics Alumni | |
| Nick Werren | Heriot-Watt University | As an alumni of Sussex and a former physics undergraduate, the idea that the fantastic staff in the physics department are at risk of redundancy really worries me - this is a world class institution for a reason! |
| Martin Jones | Francis Crick Institute | Alumnus from MPhys 1997 intake and DPhil from 2002 intake |
| Dr William Balunas | University of Oxford | I was deeply troubled to hear of this. One can only interpret it as a knee-jerk response to a prospective (not even confirmed, nor likely permanent!) reduction in the funding for PPAN research from UKRI. The university's management is sending a dangerous message: that they are willing to sacrifice the livelihoods of outstanding scientists for short-term financial savings, and that the employment of its academics is contingent on their research remaining fashionable with respect to rapidly-changing funding trends. This amounts to an outright repudiation of the principle of academic freedom, and it is hard to overstate the extent of the reputational damage that Sussex will sustain as a result. An institute that treats its academics this way will quickly find itself incapable of attracting/retaining talent and cease to be taken seriously as a research university on the international stage. The funding may come back in a few years' time; Sussex's standing will not. It would be a travesty to throw away such excellence, which can only be built up painstakingly over decades, in such a short-sighted act of self-harm. Any university leadership worthy of respect would be bending over backward to save these jobs. |
| Dr Sunayana Bhargava | Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur | The Sussex Astronomy Centre is a world-class institute for both research and teaching. Its staff have made key contributions to major missions and experiments, including Planck, JWST, and the Dark Energy Survey—work that has enabled the training and recruitment of countless PhD students (including myself) and postdocs. Any proposed cuts would not only have a severe impact on individual staff and their livelihoods, but also risk causing lasting damage to the university’s long-established reputation. I strongly urge the University leadership to rule out compulsory redundancies and to protect those who form the backbone of astronomy and physics research in the UK. |
| Emanuele Mendicelli | University of Liverpool | These proposed cuts are deeply damaging and risk dismantling world-leading research that has taken decades to build. Weakening particle physics and astronomy at Sussex would not only harm the University but also undermine the UK's scientific strength, innovation, and international reputation. |
| Kimberly Palladino | University of Oxford | Sussex's particle physics and astronomy faculty are excellent researchers and instructors. From developing new technologies, holding leadership roles in international experiments, and hosting large conferences to training the next generation of scientists at the UG and PG levels, they have proved their worth in ways that a short-sighted current policy by the university may not recognize. |
| Peter Ratoff | Lancaster University | My own institution has gone through a similar exercise recently, although with smaller percentage cuts to physics staff and no specific targeting of STFC science, but what really dismays me about this proposition is that instead of helping their PPAN staff to fight the putative STFC funding reductions, the Sussex senior management appear to be using it as a justification for making these excessive cuts. We have a government in flux at the moment and it is not a done deal that the STFC cuts are guaranteed to run so deep, so why assume the worst case scenario? Furthermore, there is abundant evidence that STFC science is the number one attractor of students onto physics degree courses, so slashing the staff providing this reliable 'recruiting sergeant' is self-destructive in the extreme. |
| Iacopo Vivarelli | University of Bologna | I have worked in PPAN at Sussex for many years and have seen first-hand the quality of its research. Sussex's contributions to particle physics are internationally recognised and, in several areas, genuinely world-leading. This excellence has been built over decades and has contributed significantly to the University's research standing. The proposed redundancies have already caused disproportionate reputational damage to a research community that has done so much to enhance Sussex's international standing. Reputation is built over many years through sustained hard work, but it can be damaged very quickly. Once lost, it is extraordinarily difficult to rebuild. For what it is worth, I urge the University leadership to consider alternative ways of addressing the University's financial challenges. The current situation was, in my view, largely foreseeable and could have been better managed by the current and previous VC. It would be a profound mistake to address it by dismantling one of Sussex's strongest research communities. |
| Patricia Conde Muíño | Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa | The Particle Physics group in the University of Sussex is an international leader and highly respected. These redundancies will necessarily reduce the impact of the University and damage the image for a long time. |
| Graham White | Southampton | |
| Paul Fuller | Alumni | |
| Joanne Sheppard | Howard Hughes Medical Institute | |
| Jim Brooke | University of Bristol | |
| Aaron Bundock | University of Bristol | |
| Robert Pisarski | Brookhaven National Laboratory | |
| Daniel Baig | University of Southampton | |
| Thomas Harvey | University of Manchester | |
| Jean-Baptiste Melin | CEA Paris-Saclay | |
| Daniel Cutting | Iambic Therapeutics | I began my career at the University of Sussex and the education I received with the Department of Theoretical Particle Physics was world class. It would be a great loss to lose any member of this fantastic institution. |
| Jonathan Pritchard | Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy/Imperial College | |
| Philip Holloway | University of Portsmouth | |
| Dr Deaglan Bartlett | University of Oxford | |
| Philip Harris | University of Sussex (Emeritus) | |
| Gudrun Hiller | TU Dortmund/CERN | |
| Zak Williams | University of Bristol | |
| Seb D. | As a university very highly rated for research excellence in physics, it’s a very short sighted move to enforce these redundancies! This research excellence accolade was what encouraged me to choose Sussex University to study physics. With this under threat with the redundancies it’ will undoubtedly affect admissions and quality! From an Alumni | |
| Max Peel | Alumni | |
| Simon Williams | Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology | |
| Francesca Chadha-Day | Durham University | |
| Frank Krauss | Durham University | |
| Francesca Di Lodovico | King's College London | |
| Matteo Marcoli | University of Durham | |
| Dr Aidin Masouminia | Ippp/Durham | |
| Michael G | As a proud physics graduate I'm extremely disappointed to see that Physics & Astronomy is once again being targeted for disproportionate cuts. The recent fall in physics subject rankings should make the university want to increase investment, not cut it further. | |
| Georgina O’Callaghan | ||
| Yassi Vaziri | I am a Sussex university physics alumni and I think the knowledge and excellence of the people working in these departments is indispensable. I remember my open day visits, and the astronomy department was the reason that I chose Sussex university, due to the passion shared by Kathy and the team, and the experience the lecturers brought. My final year project also gave me invaluable experience of working within a world class project, which again was a driver of my choosing Sussex, and would not have been possible without the lecturers and lab technicians in the particle physics department. I strongly advocate for looking at this department fairly and valuing the staff and team who have provided value to so many students throughout the years. | |
| Dr Samantha Youles | University of Portsmouth | |
| Seshadri Nadathur | University of Portsmouth | This is a very difficult time for universities everywhere, but cuts like this are self-defeating. A department that imposes compulsory redundancies like this will not attract the best research talent, and will not only lose future research income but also the harm the university's image and prestige, bringing lower admissions too. |
| Neel Shah | University of Portsmouth | |
| Edouard Marchais | EPITA | |
| Danny van Dyk | Durham University & IPPP | |
| Emyr Clement | University of Bristol | |
| Joachim Harnois-Deraps | Newcastle University | |
| Matthew Rochford | University of Southampton | |
| Louis Quilley | University of Manchester | |
| Miguel Crispim Romao | IPPP, Durham | |
| Chris Harrison | Newcastle University | |
| Apostolos Pilaftsis | University of Manchester | Your local UCU trade union should be informed for further actions beyond this open letter and lobbying for hard science at the governmental level. |
| Sophie Jewell | University of Oxford | |
| Thomas Williams | University of Manchester | |
| Daniel Mortlock | Imperial College London | |
| Will Percival | University of Waterloo | |
| Benjamin Floyd | University of Portsmouth | This is a tragedy. The cuts to physics and astronomy research in the UK is directly damaging people's lives. As a nation if we continue going down this road we may never recover the scientific leadership and knowledge in our academic system. I personally have been struggling to find a new position, and as I am an immigrant, will be forced to leave the country I have called my home for the past several years. UKRI and STFC must reverse these funding cuts or we risk losing nearly all of the academic sector in the UK within the next couple of years. |
| Mark Williams | University of Edinburgh | |
| Priscilla Corsi | University of Southampton | Shame on you. A university is a place of knowledge and such actions will only turn it into the Temple. |
| Nelson Rebelo | Sussex Physics & Astronomy | (20-24 alum) |
| Philip Burrows | University of Oxford | |
| Mao Zeng | University of Edinburgh | |
| Prof. Maria Ubiali | University of Cambridge | |
| Elena Colangeli | University of Portsmouth | |
| Anton Ilderton | University of Edinburgh | |
| Ken Mimasu | University of Southampton | |
| Teppei Katori | King's College London | |
| Laura Iacconi | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Sally Shaw | University of Edinburgh | |
| Sophie Renner | University of Glasgow | |
| Prof. Dr. Cora Uhlemann | Bielefeld University | |
| Lauro Moscardini | DIFA, University of Bologna | |
| Simone Marzani | Università di Genova | |
| Martin Gorbahn | University of Liverpool | |
| Timur Sypchenko | IPPP | |
| James Gillanders | University of Oxford | |
| Jack Fannon | University of Sheffield | |
| Dr Stephen Jones | IPPP / Durham University | |
| Andreas Jüttner | CERN / University of Southampton | |
| Isabelle Darlington | UCL | |
| Adam Softley-Brown | University of Sheffield | |
| Enrico Zunino | University of Edinburgh | |
| Aiden Razey | ||
| Samuel Abreu | CERN/The University of Edinburgh | |
| Daniel Maitre | Durham University | |
| Matthew Hull | University of Portsmouth | This is an excellent department that deserves to be treated fairly. University management should consider themselves redundant. |
| David Rosario | Newcastle University | |
| Costis Papageorgakis | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Sanjaye Ramgoolam | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Alon Faraggi | University of Liverpool | |
| Lois Flower | University of Liverpool | |
| Andrew Akeroyd | University of Southampton | |
| Steffen Schumann | University of Göttingen | |
| Farid Ibrahimov | University of Liverpool | |
| Marika Asgari | Newcastle University | Solidarity. We need a national fight to save higher education. Physics and astro are the first to be sacrificed in this fight but won't be the last. |
| David Vegh | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Debasish Banerjee | University of Southampton | PPAN subjects are always used to inspire talented students to join physics programmes. These students once trained have gone ahead to contribute so much to the society, industry, as well as basic research. The UK has extremely well-established and internationally reputed physics departments and these cuts will totally compromise the research and teaching infrastructure. The Group at Sussex is well-known for their achievements in PPAN subjects, and this is really a bad decision. We hope that the Senior Management at the University of Sussex withdraws such plans for staff cuts. |
| Yannick Ulrich | University of Liverpool | |
| Alba Soto Ontoso | Universidad de Granada | |
| Donal O’Connell | University of Edinburgh | |
| Prof. Chris Clarkson | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Mark Constable | University of Sussex MAPS 1990-93 Physics with Astrophysics (Project Supervisor Dr RC Smith) | It is imperative that Physics and Astronomy is protected, via maximum staff retention. The subject allows graduates to follow an enormous number of career paths, as well as providing vital research into the nature of our only universe. |
| Sean McGee | University of Birmingham | |
| Prof Emeritus Bill Spence | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Prof Jenni Smillie | University of Edinburgh | |
| Jack Shergold | University of Liverpool | |
| Suhail Dhawan | University of Birmingham | |
| Matthew Ward | Southampton University | |
| Thomas Mohaupt | University of Liverpool | My strongest support to the colleagues at Sussex. Making short time savings by destroying accumulated expertise and prestige would be a tragic mistake and inflict lasting damage. |
| Ray Rivers | Imperial College London | Yet again, castrating PPAN science such as this represents an embarrassing own goal. The Sussex particle and astrophysics groups have made a global impact through their world-class research. These draconian cuts will dismantle expertise that cannot be rebuilt easily. The outcome will be a loss of the best research talent at Sussex, not only with implications for future research income but will also seriously damage the university's image and prestige and, more generally, given the importance of the Sussex groups, the UK's science base. |
| Matteo Cacciari | Université Paris Cité | |
| Ricardo Monteiro | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Harry Simpson | University of Sussex | |
| Mattthew Needham | University of Edinburgh | |
| Thomas Teubner | University of Liverpool | |
| Graham Smith | University of Birmingham | |
| Aidan Wright | University of Liverpool | |
| Giulio Fabbian | Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS/Université Paris Saclay | The Sussex Astronomy Centre is a globally renowned institution for both research and teaching. As a postdoctoral researcher, I benefited greatly from its high-quality, intellectually stimulating environment, rooted in values of diversity and inclusion. My time at Sussex was fundamental to my academic career and boosted it greatly. Any proposed cuts risk causing lasting damage to the university’s long-standing international reputation and to staff livelihoods. I strongly urge the University leadership to reject compulsory redundancies and to safeguard those who form the backbone of astronomy and physics research in the UK. |
| Ben Gompertz | University of Birmingham | |
| Nicola McConkey | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Dr Alasdair Price | Siloton | As an alumnus of Sussex, I now run a medical device company developing portable eye scanners to better diagnose and monitor chronic health conditions. We have a number of world firsts to our name and are the market leaders in photonic chip optical coherence tomography. Much of that success can be traced back to the education I received at Sussex. Although I did not pursue a career in particle physics or astronomy, I frequently find myself using skills and techniques that were taught to me by academics in these groups. The department's focus on providing a broad but detailed education has also been key to receiving career opportunities outside of my day job. This includes serving as a member of the Institute of Physics' Awards Committee, which selects recipients for some of the most prestigious awards in physics, and which I would not be equipped to do without the breadth of education that Sussex was able to deliver. While the university may not be proposing the complete elimination of Particle Physics or Astronomy from the department, cutting 35% of staff will severely limit the diversity of skills and knowledge that is available, causing significant damage to undergraduate education. In addition, the research done by particle physicists and astronomers at Sussex is of enormous scientific and economic importance. Their work ranges from the fundamental (without which we will be unable to develop the technologies of tomorrow) through to the applied (already, there are high-profile examples of technology transfer from these groups in areas such drought management and medical imaging). Therefore, going ahead with the proposed redundancies would be a monumental act of institutional, national, and humanitarian self harm. |
| Gabriele Travaglini | Queen Mary University of London | This is an outstanding research group whose work is recognised internationally. The expertise being lost cannot simply be rebuilt in a few years. Particle physics and astronomy are also among the disciplines that produce highly skilled graduates with the analytical and computational abilities that drive innovation across the wider economy. A reduction of this scale would be a serious loss for Sussex, causing significant lasting damage to the University’s reputation, as well as for UK science and future students. |
| Alessandra Buonanno | Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics | |
| Dr Philippa Cole | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Jacob Kempster | Faculty AI | As a former Senior Research Scientist in Sussex's School of Physics and Astronomy, I am shocked and horrified to hear of these cuts |
| Sam Dolan | University of Sheffield | |
| Dr Jim Dobson | King’s College London | |
| Anthony Doyle | University of Glasgow | |
| Stephane Werner | Durham University | |
| Oliver Gould | University of Nottingham | |
| Alexander Nicol | Sussex Alumnus (Physics) 2010-2014 | |
| Mark Sargent | EPFL | I am very concerned and disappointed about the planned redundancies that will deeply affect my former faculty colleagues in Physics & Astronomy. As has been noted in other comments, this risks a race to the bottom, disproportionately affecting academics who already had a comparatively high teaching and admin load compared to other universities. The current teaching and research staff of the Sussex Astronomy Centre have played key roles in leading astrophysics missions and surveys in the recent past. They continue (or are preparing) to do so in leading current or forthcoming projects like 4MOST, DES, JWST, PRIMA, Simons Observatory or the SKA. The U. of Sussex should invest in these valued and dedicated staff members, and give them opportunities to thrive, rather than threatening them with redundancies! |
| Dr Jared Jeyaretnam | University of Nottingham | These cuts are disgraceful. UK research in particle physics and astronomy has led to great insights not just for theoretical physics, but many practical applications too. It would be incredibly shortsighted to destroy academic excellence like this, and it will not help Sussex’s finances in the long term (as we’re seeing at Nottingham; solidarity from your friends and colleagues there!). |
| Elena gramellini | University of Manchester | |
| Gert Aarts | Swansea University | Compulsory and voluntary redundancies in fundamental physics are not a long-term solution to the financial crisis affecting so many UK universities. |
| Scott Clay | University of Sussex (Alumni) | |
| Veronica Sanz | University of Valencia | |
| Adi Armoni | Swansea University | |
| Lucas Porth | University of Bonn | It is shocking to hear that the staff at such world-class groups at Sussex is facing compulsory redundancies. While acknowledging the difficult financial situation at universities, reducing the scientific staff will have devastating impact in the long term. |
| Kristin Lohwasser | University of Sheffield | The research in Sussex is world leading in specific areas of particle physics - it's shocking that such a department is put under a threat of redundancies |
| Pritha Paul | Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich | |
| Giovanni Granata | Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth | |
| Enrico Camporeale | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Lucia Fonseca de la Bella | ||
| Gianmassimo Tasinato | Swansea University | |
| Dimitri Verai | FoSEM student | |
| Adrian Bevan | Queen Mary University of London | I urge the senior management at the University of Sussex to reconsider its position and ensure that it is taking a long term view for financial stability, rather than a short term reactive view that could undo decades of hard work in building reputation in this area. While I fully appreciate that there are challenges in the current climate facing many universities, singling out the PPAN scientists on world leading projects who have a solid track record of producing high quality results, and who also feed UK SMEs with talented graduates to help drive economic growth (among other things), is not a sound move. It is, in my humble opinion, a reflection of bad strategy, driven by short term goals and misguided thinking. I urge the University of Sussex to reflect on what solutions might look like with a view to longer term strategic thinking. With the lens (or spectre) of the upcoming REF, would it not be better to think in terms of research outputs and quality of the work done, rather than to wield an axe on mainstream areas of Physics? If these short sighted cuts go ahead it will be hard for academics, current students and prospective students to take Sussex seriously. The curiosity driven science that you are proposing to disproportionately cut drives many young people into STEM at universities. Have you done a credible impact assessment of what these proposed cuts might do to your recruitment? |
| Phillip Lichfield | University of Glasgow | The kind of physics pursued by the Theoretical, Experimental Particle Physics, and Astronomy groups are exactly the topics that draw in physics students considering where do their undergraduate study, and partnership in the large collaborations common to these fields help is a boon to a university’s international profile. The University of Sussex surely benefits from their presence in comparison to other universities of a similar size, and to start dismantling an advantage that has been constructed over decades seems extremely short sighted. |
| Kazuya Koyama | University of Portsmouth | |
| Mitesh Patel | Imperial College London | |
| Micah Annor | Alumni (Physics dept) | |
| Donough Regan | Sussex University Alumni | This shortsighted proposal would damage the reputation of Sussex University and UK academia substantially. Having spent almost 7 years as a postdoc researcher at Sussex, I know first hand the world class quality of research, dedication to teaching and the community ethos of the Physics and Astronomy department. To say I'm appalled at this announcement would be a gross understatement |
| Sergey Burdin | University of Liverpool | I would like to express my strongest support to our colleagues in the Particle Physics Group at the University of Sussex. |
| Grace Marten | University of Sussex - Physics and Astronomy Alum | |
| Congkao Wen | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Stefan Schacht | IPPP, Durham University | |
| Anna Cibinel | Former U. of Sussex Physics & Astronomy employee | |
| Jamie Sharpington | I am a Sussex Astrophysics alumni, having studied there 2012-2016. I had a truly brilliant time, learning so much from the wonderful staff, and making friends for life. To hear that future generations may not get the opportunity that I had is a truly upsetting and extremely worrying way to mark the ten year anniversary of my graduation. | |
| Pedro Carrilho | University of Hertfordshire | |
| David Mulryne | Queen Mary University of London | |
| James Bolton | University of Nottingham | |
| Scott Melville | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Carlos Nunez | Swansea University | I echo the comments written by colleagues. It is a very bad thing to play with people's lives as the SMT are doing lately in UK universities |
| Anna Sfyrla | University of Geneva | The proposal to reduce these core areas of physics is deeply short-sighted. A leading physics department should include the disciplines that address some of the most fundamental unanswered questions about the nature of the Universe. The Experimental Particle Physics group at Sussex is internationally recognised for its contributions to the ATLAS experiment at CERN. The loss of this expertise would weaken international research efforts in collider physics. Fundamental research of this kind is not a luxury; it is an essential part of a vibrant and internationally competitive physics department. |
| Prof Konstantinos Dimopoulos | Lancaster University | |
| Rodolfo Russo | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Stephan Eisenhardt | University of Edinburgh | I agree to and support the various comments made above about the excellence of the group, the shortsightedness of the proposal and the damages done if realised. |
| Federico Leo Redi | U. of Bergamo, Italy | |
| Omar Almaini | University of Nottingham | The management at Sussex should be ashamed of themselves. The Particle Physics and Astronomy groups at Sussex are world leading. These short-sighted cuts will cause long-term reputational damage to the university, and would make it very difficult to attract talented scientists in the future. |
| Alkistis Pourtsidou | University of Edinburgh | |
| Peter Bussey | University of Glasgow | This seems very short-sighted. These are areas that are particularly effective in attracting young people into physics. |
| Chris Allton | Swansea University | |
| Biagio Lucini | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Carsten van de Bruck | The University of Sheffield | |
| Karolos Potamianos | University of Warwick | |
| Pedro Fernandes | Heidelberg University | |
| Matthew Hill | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory | An a Sussex physics alumnus it brings me great personal sadness to see such pressure on what has always been an incredibly supportive, creative and talented department. What Sussex is entrusted with here is truly rare and valuable, and damage to it will diminish the university and its unique culture well beyond the lifetime of the current crisis. My very best wishes to everyone who makes Sussex so great, and the best of luck for a positive outcome. |
| Christopher Conselice | University of Manchester | |
| Matthew Buican | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Baptiste Ravina | CERN | |
| Isaac Tutusaus | Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC, Barcelona) | |
| Pier Stefano Corasaniti | CNRS, Paris Observatory | My support to colleagues at Sussex, where I did my PhD in the Theoretical Physics group more than 20 years ago. Physics at Sussex has given more to the University, than what it has received over these many years. |
| Brax Philippe | IPhT Paris-Saclay University | |
| Abbey Waldron | QMUL | |
| Armin Reichold | University of Oxford | The proposed redundancies would allready in the medium term greatly reduce the success of Sussex University. |
| Vivian Poulin | LUPM, CRNS & Université de Montpellier | |
| Jay Nesbitt | University of Glasgow | |
| Erik Panzer | University of Oxford | |
| Madeline Colver | University of Bristol | |
| Harry Russell | Physics Graduate | Physics at Sussex is comprised of endless talent and amazing lecturers. It would be sad to see it fall. |
| Mark Owen | The University of Glasgow | |
| Benedict Bahr-Kalus | INAF Observatory of Turin | |
| James Coleman-Mills | University of Liverpool | |
| Martin Rey | University of Bath | |
| Fabian Zierler | Technical University of Munich | |
| Katerina Karakoulaki | University of Bristol | |
| Gary Robertson | University of Glasgow | |
| Daniel Roberts | University of Southampton | |
| Jake Taylor | University of Oxford | |
| Dirk Peter van der Werf | Swansea | |
| Dr Richard Bates | The University of Glasgow | |
| Raphaela Wutte | University of Southampton | |
| Dimitrios Irodotou | The Institute of Cancer Research | |
| Stijn Wuyts | University of Bath | |
| Sakura Schafer-Nameki | Oxford | |
| Gerasimos Rigopoulos | Newcastle University | It is beyond comprehension that a group of internationally recognised people doing top tier research and passing scientific knowledge to the next generation so successfully, faces redundancies by a university. University “leaders” have truly betrayed what should have been their mission. |
| Adam Shaw | University of Nottingham | |
| Thomas Martin | University of Nottingham | |
| Mohammed Shafi | University of Nottingham | |
| Professor Leigh Fletcher | University of Leicester | |
| Giovanni D'Addario | University of Nottingham | |
| Maggie Lieu | University of Nottingham | |
| Benjamin Muntz | University of Nottingham | After the backlash to the proposed cuts at the School of Physics and Astronomy in Nottingham, one might have expected university leaders elsewhere to learn the obvious lesson. Sussex’s proposal suggests instead a remarkably ill-judged commitment to repeating reputational self-sabotage. |
| Dr. Bohan Yue | University of Oxford | |
| alberto vecchio | University of Birmingham | |
| Alice Reed | University of Glasgow | |
| Thomas Cornish | Imperial College London | |
| David Stefanyszyn | University of Nottingham | |
| Dan Ryczanowski | ICG, University of Portsmouth | |
| Benjamin Bose | University of Edinburgh | |
| Elliot Watton | CERN | |
| Qi-Xin Xie | University of Nottingham | |
| Anthony Challinor | University of Cambridge | |
| Alexandre Parreira | LIP | |
| Jochen Liske | University of Hamburg | |
| Sofia Andringa | LIP, Lisbon | |
| Ricardo Gonçalo | University of Coimbra and LIP - Portugal | I sincerely hope the announced cuts can be reversed. It is a very long and hard effort to reach the international standing in the areas of particle physics and astronomy that were achieved at the University of Sussex. It would be a true waste and a great loss to the university if this is harmed by brutal cuts such as these. |
| Ameek Malhotra | Swansea University | |
| Paul Thompson | University of Birmingham | |
| Artem Shepelev | University of Birmingham | |
| Peter Butler | University of Liverpool | |
| Alan Watson | University of Birmingham | |
| Trevor Cheung | University of Nottingham | |
| Long Li | University of Birmingham | These academic postions should be retained |
| Fernando Monticelli | La Plata IFLP/UNLP/CONICET | SUSSEX has been a prominent group within ATLAS with key contributions to physics and to the detector trigger system. The impact of this reduction in our experiment is unfortunate. Given the first class global ranking status of Sussex, the negative impact of this decision is global scale, and not just UK. |
| Matt Hilton | University of the Witwatersrand | |
| Salvador MARTI | IFIC (València) | |
| Glenn Patrick | University of Portsmouth and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory | |
| Miriam Watson | University of Birmingham | |
| Daniel Galaviz Redondo | Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon | |
| Luke Conaboy | University of Nottingham | |
| Giuseppe Callea | University of Glasgow | |
| Stephen West | Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Martin Aleksa | CERN | |
| Mark Slater | University of Birmingham | |
| Daniela Koeck | University of Oregon | Former Sussex PhD |
| Ray Staff | University of Sussex - undergrad degree and part-time work | Physics and Mathematics are two sciences that provide a variety of students with essential skills that can be applied to further research, teaching, and across industry and business. These skills will be integrated back into the economy and help to advance the UK in many ways. Not only this, but many areas of these fields inspire young people to go into similar areas, which also will boost the economy. Without these courses, many students would not be able to gain these skills and the UK would be left behind. Secondary school teachers for Maths and Science are already scarce, especially those who can also teach Physics and Chemistry. Without these degrees, this scarcity of teachers will become even worse. Sussex is arguably the most welcoming and diverse university, and this is a big draw for those who are underrepresented in maths and physics. Losing these courses would be terrible for Sussex, and for the students who feel lost in a world of white, male mathematicians and physicists. |
| Maria C Abreu | LIP - Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics | We can't destroy in one day what was built in a century |
| John Wheater | University of Oxford | |
| Nigel Watson | University of Birmingham | Shocking response from Sussex 'management', who need to consider _their_ postitions rather than the outstanding physicists who are now threatened with job losses |
| Aleandro Nisati | INFN | I am familiar in particular with the LHC experimental group, which obtained fundamental results over the past several years, world wide known. It fully deserves,with no reservation, the strongest support for the future. |
| Prof Ben Allanach | University of Cambridge | |
| Thomas Harvey | MIT | |
| Davide Pagani | INFN, Bologna | |
| Sarah Hughes | MIT Kavli institute | |
| Zufikar Najmudin | Imperial College London | These redundancies are short sighted, not only affecting the ability of the University of Sussex to sit at the top table of research institutions in the country, but also further the impression that the UK is sliding further and further down the table in terms of contributing to the furthering of human knowledge. A very sad development indeed. |
| David Maltby | University of Nottingham | |
| Sam Waterhouse | University College London | |
| Prof Andy Buckley | University of Glasgow | Justifying these disproportionate cuts on decisions not yet made by STFC is premature, and ignores the important pull-factor of this research to physics undergraduates, and their downstream impact on areas of direct economic importance. Extremely short-sighted, and an insult to the superb scientific and outreach work driven by Sussex particle physics. |
| Emma Renouprez | University of Sussex | |
| Rui Vieira | Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics (LIP) | |
| Peter Coles | National University of Ireland, Maynooth | Physics and Astronomy at Sussex Internationally renowned. Cuts of this scale will be devastating not only for the staff but also for the reputation of the University. |
| Jonathan Flynn | University of Southampton | |
| Margherita Primavera | INFN Lecce, Italy | Colleagues working in particle physics at University of Sussex are well known and appreciated internationally for their commitment and achievements. Their contribution to the field is valuable, and it is important that it continues to be so in the future. |
| Prof. Andre Lukas | University of Oxford | Something similar was about to happen 20 years ago. This University does not seem to be able to learn from mistakes., |
| Prof. Stefano Pozzorini | Zurich University | |
| German Sinuco | CGI IT UK Ltd | Physics and Astronomy work at Sussex is world class thx to the talent and dedication of its staff. Letting people go is a shot in the foot that will have a negative impact on the reputation of the institution. Past forced and voluntary redundancy campaings have not sorted the finantial problems of Sussex, they seem exacerbated. Investment in talent is the best strategy to support the growth of the U. |
| Lucia Di Ciaccio | Universite de Savoie Mont Blanc and LAPP/CNRS/IN2P3 | As a University Professor of High Energy Physics in France and researcher in the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN, I am deeply shocked by this news. Investing in scientific research and universities is essential for the future prosperity and competitiveness of any country, as well as for future generations. I sincerely hope that there is still an opportunity to reconsider this proposal and reverse the planned reduction in academic staff. |
| Alex Cauchi | Sussex University student | |
| Andrei Starinets | University of Oxford | These decisions by the University's senior management are profoundly short-sighted and risk consequences far beyond what their architects anticipate. Fundamental science is a highly sophisticated and fragile part of human culture. It takes decades to build, but can be dismantled in a matter of months. Once lost, such intellectual capital and international standing cannot simply be "bought back", and in many cases may never be fully restored. History offers many examples. These decisions must be reconsidered. |
| Dr Lucien Heurtier | King's College London | The theoretical particle physics and astronomy groups at the university of Sussex have fantastic scientists, and some of the most brilliant people in their area worldwide. Recent cuts proposed by UKRI to PPAN science do not reflect the impact and the excellence of PPAN science. Such a decision does not make sense, and it is very likely at this point that it will be reversed soon. The University of Sussex should seriously refrain from anticipating such cuts and harming its own talents locally. It should instead invest in the impactful and excellent science it already has. |
| Dennis Zaritsky | University of Arizona | |
| Tim R Morris | University of Southampton | |
| Holger Israel | TIB Hannover, Germany | |
| Olivier Arnaez | Université Savoie Mont Blanc | |
| Natalia Zubova | University of Bristol | |
| Matt Griffin | Cardiff University | |
| Paul Jackson | Adelaide University | I have worked with members of the University of Sussex Particle Physics group for many years. They are an excellent and a highly regarded group. I would urge the University leadership to reconsider any cuts proposed to their staff. |
| Chris Gordon | University of Canterbury (NZ) | |
| Harry Lane | University of Manchester | |
| Paolo Muratore-Ginanneschi | Unversity of Helsinki, Mathematics Department | |
| Dr Jost Migenda | King’s College London | The particle physics group at Sussex is recognised worldwide for excellent research. These cuts would squander that position over night and inflict severe harm to the department and the university. The reduced student numbers in this area would also do long-term damage to the UK‘s economy, depriving it of highly educated specialists in data science and tech fields. |
| Rachel Binnie | University of Sussex | |
| Brayden Leicester | Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology | |
| Nick Seymour | Curtin University | |
| Robert Pascalau | Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge | |
| D.R.T. Jones | Liverpool University | Sussex Theoretical Physics group is a vibrant one with a long history. I was a postdoc there 1974-5 and had the pleasure of collaborating with Alex Love, Mike Moore and lifelong friend David Bailin. In later years I met and enjoyed working with Mark Hindmarsh. Sussex is one of the best groups in the country. |
| A/Prof. Michelle Cluver | Swinburne University of Technology | |
| Karl Jakobs | Unniversity of Freiburg, Germany | |
| Dr. Ana Sofia Inácio | University of Oxford | |
| Or Graur | University of Portsmouth | Following on the footsteps of Nottingham, this move by Sussex creates the impression that physics departments in the UK may be starting to implode. This is detrimental to the UK's image abroad and to the country's ability to compete in the global technology race. |
| Veera Mikola | University of Glasgow | |
| Michele Gallinaro | LIP/University of Lisbon | Cutting funding and support to fundamental science is short-sighted and a terrible mistake. |
| Louise Dash | University College London (UCL) | |
| James Ingoldby | IPPP, Durham University | |
| Michelangelo Mangano | CERN TH Department | |
| Prof Veronique Boisvert | Centre for Particle Physics & Astronomy Group Leader | I collaborate with the experimental particle physics group at Sussex and they are of the highest calibre, any volume reduction in that group would be a great loss nationally. |
| Oznur Apsimon | University of Manchester | |
| Professor Matthew Wingate | University of Cambridge | |
| Alberto Plebani | University of Cambridge | |
| Tiago Fernandes de Nobrega | John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Holly Pacey | University of Oxford | |
| Avon Huxor | University of Exeter | Given the power of particle physics and astrophysics to inspire students and the general public, this ongoing decline in UK presence in the fields is tragic, |
| David Tong | University of Cambridge | |
| Ron Reid-Edwards | University of Cambridge | |
| Shameer Ahmad | Cambridge | I am opposed to the forced reduction of academic staff in Experimental Particle Physics at the University of Sussex. |
| Bence Becsy | University of Birmingham | |
| Inês Ochoa | Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics (LIP) | |
| I-Kang Liu | Royal Holloway University of London | |
| Yannick Bahé | University of Nottingham | As long-term collaborator with the cosmological simulations group at Sussex, I can attest to both its world-leading research and innovative public engagement programme. Threatening a successful department in this way will cause irreversible damage to the reputation of the university, and to the UK research landscape more widely. I would therefore urge those in power to to reconsider such short-sighted actions. |
| Prof. Carlton Baugh | Durham University | |
| Conor Omand | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Wasif Shaqil | LJMU | |
| Katherine Ormerod | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Rosie Bartlett | LJMU | |
| Prof Robert Crain | Liverpool John Moores University | A short-sighted proposal. Physics departments are easy to tear down and near-impossible to rebuild. Best wishes to Sussex Physics colleagues. |
| Sakircan Beyazit | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Andrew Pontzen | Durham University | |
| Richard Howl | Royal Holloway | |
| Valentina Schutze | University of Cambridge | |
| Nick Dorey | DAMTP, University of Cambridge | |
| Gustav Mogull | Queen Mary University of London | I am deeply saddened to hear that such deep cuts are being proposed |
| Tina Potter | Cambridge | As a founding member of the Sussex ATLAS group, I strongly support this letter and stand with my colleagues. The group's contributions to particle physics and to training future scientists deserve continued support and recognition. |
| Zoë McGrath | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Amy Cottle | University College London | |
| Jonah Conley | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Julian Onions | University of Nottingham | Like the cuts at Nottingham, these will be devastating to a top research group. A reputation takes years to build up but can be ruined with one short sighted act. |
| Shiho Kobayashi | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Giulio Falcioni | Università di Torino and INFN | |
| Betsy Cunnett | University of Sussex, Research Student | |
| Patrick Dougan | Southern Methodist University, Dallas Texas | Deeply troubled to hear about this. Amazing work done in particle physics by the Sussex group, the proposal appears regressive, self-destructive and embarrassing. |
| Enrique Gaztanaga | University of Portsmouth | A decision that trades long-term scientific leadership for short-term balance sheets. |
| Ronald Horgan | CMS University of Cambridge | |
| Aleksandra Bochenek | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Ravi K Sheth | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Prof. Steven Longmore | LJMU | |
| Baojiu Li | Durham University | |
| Adam Lidz | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Vanessa Graber | Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Harvey Reall | University of Cambridge | |
| Leah Wolf | Royal Holloway University of London | |
| Rhys Seeburger | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Mark Costantini | University of Cambridge | |
| Professor Simon Dye | University of Nottingham | This is a disgraceful and mindless act of academic vandalism with apparently little appreciation of the incredible and irreplaceable talent within the department of Physics and Astronomy at Sussex. |
| NIkolai Fomin | University of Cambridge | |
| Matilde Uboldi | University of Sussex, PhD student | |
| YOGESH WAGH | LJMU | |
| Guilherme Milhano | IST -ULisbon | |
| Claire Gwenlan | University of Oxford | |
| Harry Gully | University of Nottingham | |
| Ulrike Kuchner | University of Nottingham | |
| Alexander Farren | DAMTP, University of Cambridge | |
| Professor Frazer Pearce | University of Nottingham | As a Sussex Physics & Astronomy alumnus, D.Phil 1992, followed by a postdoctoral position, I strongly object to the proposed job cuts in the department. Physics and astronomy are precisely the kind of blue-skies research areas that act as the canary in the coal mine for a serious university: they are not always the ones bringing in large equipment grants, but they signal intellectual ambition, research depth, and long-term institutional health. Cutting such capacity is therefore not a tidy accounting measure; it is an extremely bad sign. It tells staff, students, funders, and future applicants that the university is prepared to trade its academic substance for short-term financial gain. Once that capability is lost, rebuilding it is slow, expensive, and often impossible. |
| Graham Murray | Durham University | I wholeheartedly lend my support in opposition to these shortsighted redundancies. |
| Ian Smail | Durham | |
| Lorenzo Mai | Università di Genova | I am deeply concerned by the staff redundancies in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex. Having completed my PhD there, I experienced firsthand the quality of its research environment and academic community, and I know how much this department contributes to students and to science. Physics and Astronomy are among the most impactful scientific disciplines: they not only expand human knowledge but also drive technological innovation and help us address fundamental questions about our place in the universe. Reducing capacity in a department dedicated to this mission risks limiting opportunities for discovery, education and long-term scientific progress. I hope the University will reconsider these decisions and continue to support and strengthen fundamental research and education in Physics and Astronomy for future generations. |
| Sajjad Mahdizadeh | Durham university | |
| Kieran Kennedy | University of Sussexs Physics Alumni | The Physics and Astronomy department at the University of Sussex is world class - doing leading research across a range of subjects, and providing an inspiring and valuable space to nurture new talent for the future. Making any cuts to the department will affect not only the University, but the wider physics community as a whole for the worse. |
| chris done | University of Durham | |
| Leah Morabito | Durham University | |
| Marco Aparo | Institut de Física d'Altes Energies (IFAE) - Spain | |
| Jorge Peñarrubia | University of Edinburgh | |
| Andreea Font | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Kirill Batrakov | Durham University | |
| Vincent Eke | ICC, Durham University | |
| Renske Smit | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Ben King | University of Plymouth | |
| Prof. Annette Ferguson | University of Edinburgh | |
| Adriana Dias | Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Michael Healy-Kalesh | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Alex Ogilvie | University of Sussex Alumni | |
| David King | Durham University | I achieved my first degree (Maths) and Masters (Astronomy) at Sussex, and owe the staff in Physics and Astronomy for putting on the path to pursue a career in Astrophysics, for which I am extremely grateful. |
| David Alexander | Durham University | |
| Ross McLure | University of Edinburgh | |
| Shengdong Lu | Durham University | Astronomy is one of humanity’s longest-term scientific endeavours. Its discoveries, technologies, and inspiration often take decades to unfold. We should not allow short-term financial pressures to undermine the future of a field that has consistently delivered long-term scientific and societal benefits! |
| Emily Hampshire | Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Dr Chris Copperwheat | Liverpool John Moores University | The Sussex group has an excellent reputation and these proposed redundancies are deeply misguided. |
| John Chapman | University of Cambridge | |
| Jen Feron | University of Nottingham | |
| Davide Malito | Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Christopher Lester | University of Cambridge | I value the contributions of my colleagues in Sussex to national and international collaborations to which I and others contribute. |
| Sofia Dimoudi | Durham University | |
| Nicola Abraham | University of Sussex Alumni | I genuinely can’t understand this decision to cut the Physics department, especially the Experimental Particle Physics (EPP) team, where I gained my PhD. I would have thought every university would be crying out to have the amazing talent currently at Sussex, working on the biggest and arguably most famous experiments on the planet, not actively cutting it, let alone by so much. Without a doubt the work the EPP Sussex team do to create such a strong and positive presence at these experiments encourages new students to choose the University of Sussex over others, and reducing the department will only harm Sussex’ reputation on an international stage. |
| Paula Chadwick | Durham University | |
| Ivan Baldry | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Sean Hughes | University of Liverpool | |
| David Attard | University of Sussex | |
| Edward Leming | Ocado Tech | As a Sussex Physics & Astronomy alumnus, PhD 2014, followed by a postdoctoral position, I strongly object to the proposed job cuts in the department. This group delivers world leading research. Importantly, they also deliver vital STEM training to cultivate and support a pipeline of highly sought-after, influential leaders in technology, data, and AI beyond academia. |
| Adrien Aufan Stoffels d'Hautefort | University of Sussex, Research Student | |
| Bob Mann | University of Edinburgh | The Astronomy Centre is an internationally-recognised centre of excellence in astronomy and a great advert for Sussex worldwide. I'm shocked to learn of the scale of jobs losses being contemplated. |
| Rute Pedro | LIP - Portugal | |
| Raul Angulo | Donostia International Physics Center | |
| Andreas Loeschcke Centeno | CERN | The education I received at the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sussex has been nothing short of extraordinary. The proposed cuts would severely damage the University's ability to place its alumni in high-energy physics groups around the world; a benefit I was lucky enough to receive. I strongly urge the University to reconsider this decision that would do lasting harm to a department of genuine international standing. |
| Jack Turner | University of Sussex, Research Student | |
| Manda Banerji | University of Southampton | |
| Philip Moriarty | University of Nottingham | |
| Sara Zahoor | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Francesco Shankar | University of Southampton | |
| Adam Ingram | Durham University | |
| Dr Phil Wiseman | University of Southampton | |
| Toka Alokda | Argelander-Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn | |
| Matthijs van der Wild | Durham University | |
| Nikolina Sarcevic | Duke University | I am shocked and deeply concerned by the scale and targeting of the proposed redundancies in Physics and Astronomy at Sussex. Particle physics and astronomy are internationally collaborative fields, and the loss of expertise, teaching capacity, and leadership in major experiments would cause damage far beyond a single department. These groups are part of the wider scientific infrastructure that early-career researchers, students, and international collaborations rely on. I strongly urge the University to reconsider these cuts and work with staff, students, and the broader community to find sustainable alternatives. |
| Angelo P. Chiesa | University of Sussex, Research Student | |
| Jakob Dietl | University of Bonn | |
| Freddie King | University of Sussex, Research Student | |
| Dr Joseph Davighi | University of Cambridge | |
| Conor Fitzpatrick | University of Manchester | |
| Limousin Marceau | Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille | |
| Aniruddha Aramanekoppa | Paris Observatory (Sussex Alumnus) | |
| Simon George | Royal Holloway University of London | The proposed cuts are extremely short sighted and will inflict long term damage on University of Sussex and UK science. Sussex physicists are vital collaborators in the big international particle physics and astronomy experiments of our age that seek to answer the fundamental questions about our universe and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. They are highly valued as collaborators by other UK and international physics departments. |
| Behnood Bandi | University of Sussex, Research Student | These redundancies would directly harm the PhD students, university itself and UK Physics! |
| Christopher Thomas | DAMTP, University of Cambridge | |
| Darragh Robertson | University of Sussex, Research Student | |
| Alexander Eggemeier | University of Bonn | I came to the University of Sussex as a PhD researcher in astronomy, drawn by the excellent international reputation of the Astronomy Centre and its staff. My time there was hugely rewarding, thanks in large part to the dedication of the people who make the Centre what it is. The proposed redundancies would severely damage this hard-won standing. I hope another solution can be found that averts these short-sighted cuts. |
| Tom Elliot | Royal Holloway, University of London | As well as working alongside some of Sussex's fantastic researchers in the ATLAS collaboration, I attended Sussex as an undergraduate, where I had the enormous privilege of being instructed by the department's excellent teaching staff. These are brilliant, hardworking, and highly approachable educators, whose livelihoods are being disproportionately threatened by the proposed redundancies. The cuts, should they be implemented, would not only harm the department's outstanding research output, but also severely compromise its ability to deliver the first-rate teaching for which it is renowned. |
| Britton Smith | University of Edinburgh | |
| Shuhui Huang | University of Cambridge | |
| Alexander Mitov | University of Cambridge | |
| Michael Spannowsky | Karlsruhe Institute of Technology | |
| Robert Massey | Royal Astronomical Society / University of Sussex | |
| Tommaso Antonelli | University of Sussex, PGR | |
| Dr Trent Dupuy | University of Edinburgh | |
| James Cooke | Open University / Associate Lecturer | |
| Thomas Sotiriou | University of Nottingham | Proposing a 35% percent staff reduction to a world-leading group is simply a demonstration of how clueless those that make these decisions are. |
| Sebastian Kamann | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| David Skinner | DAMTP, Cambridge | |
| Gonzalo Villa | University of Cambridge | |
| Dr Kyle Oman | Durham University | |
| George Parish | Kings College London | |
| Prof. Sadegh Khochfar | University of Edinburgh | |
| Avery Meiksin | University of Edinburgh | Vice Chancellors need to understand that once a valued group is damaged this way, word spreads and the group won't easily, if ever, recover. I hope another way to cope with the financial crunch can be found. |
| Prof. Florian Beutler | University of Edinburgh | |
| Ray Sharples | Durham University | |
| Dimitri Gadotti | Durham University | |
| Michael Brown | University of Manchester | |
| Tevong You | King's College London | |
| João Freitas Dias | Former student | Former student in theoretical physics in the Physics and Astronomy department. Some of the best years in my life. Greatly due to the staff that allowed and facilitated an excelent environment to allow for the student’s growth |
| Christopher Chen | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Fabrizio Miano | I find these proposed cuts deeply short-sighted and strategically self-defeating. Sussex Physics & Astronomy gave me the scientific training, international exposure, and analytical skills that have shaped my career well beyond academia. Targeting internationally recognised groups in particle physics and astronomy may appear to offer short-term financial relief, but it risks causing long-term damage to the University’s reputation, its ability to attract talented students and researchers, and its contribution to UK science and innovation. Excellence in research and teaching takes decades to build, but can be lost very quickly. I believe these cuts would be a serious strategic mistake, and I strongly urge the University leadership to reconsider before lasting damage is done. | |
| Sofia Zgkouri | National Technical University of Athens | |
| Natasha Peake | University of Sussex, Research Student | |
| James | Alumni | I strongly opposed any redundancies made within the physics and astronomy department |
| Gurtej Kanwar | University of Ediburgh | |
| Prof. Jon Hays | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Hugh Osborn | University of Cambridge | |
| Daniel Gillies | ||
| Fabrizio Trovato | This is heartbreaking. I've been lucky enough to do my PhD with the Experimental Particle Physics group at Sussex. During those year, I've found the professionalism, dedication and support that's guided and formed me throughout my career in and out academia. For years, the group has collaborated and produced pieces of research of the highest quality standards. It is a shame to see excellence as such being targeted, and I hope the University will reconsider the decision. | |
| Daniel Molnár | Sussex Astronomy Alumni | |
| Dr April Cridland Mathad | CERN | The value of Physics students to the UK economy cannot be understated. Short-sighted cuts such as these will have a long term impact not only on Sussex's international reputation but also on the UK's ability to retain highly talented individuals. |
| Dr Laura Corner | University of Liverpool | |
| Professor Beth Biller | University of Edinburgh | |
| Eleonora Di Valentino | University of Sheffield | |
| Parth Bhargava | Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth | |
| Elsa Teixeira | LUPM & Université de Montpellier | |
| Harry Desmond | University of Portsmouth | |
| William Giarè | University of Hawaii | |
| Sergi Sirera | ICG, University of Portsmouth | I hope the University management team will reconsider before taking such a dramatic and irreversible step. Doing so would not only damage the reputation of Sussex and the UK, but also unfairly affect the lives and careers of many outstanding academics. |
| Adam Smith | University of Sheffield | |
| Abhinove Seenivasan | University of Sheffield | |
| Umut Emek Demirbozan | ||
| Ivan Martinez Soler | Durham University | |
| William Iania | Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo | |
| Øyvind Christiansen | Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences | |
| Konrad Kuijken | Leiden University | This is now the so-manieth British university to threaten its own physics department. The UK is a major draw for physics and astronomy students from all over the world, with an incredible heritage of research achievements. Watching from abroad this seems like madness. In times of turmoil hold on to your jewels, do not liquidate them! |
| Gonzalo J. Olmo | University of Valencia | |
| Elias Vagenas | Kuwait University | |
| Sebastian Trojanowski | National Centre for Nuclear Research | |
| Prof. Richard I. Anderson | Georg-August-University of Göttingen | |
| Alex Rabban | University of Michigan | |
| Zois Gyftopoulos | Heidelberg University | |
| Maret Einasto | Tartu University | |
| Joel Swallow | CERN | |
| Joan Solà Peracaula | Universitat de Barcelona | |
| Maria Giovanna Dainotti | National Astronomical Observatory of Japan | |
| Marc Kamionkowski | Johns Hopkins University | |
| Istvan Szapudi | Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii | A huge unforced error and sad self-harm to the university and the UK ecosystem of excellent research institutes. |
| Ali ÖVGÜN | Eastern Mediterranean University | Singling out Particle Physics and Astronomy will severely compromise both undergraduate teaching and the university's ability to attract top-tier global talent. Investing in STEM means protecting the educators and researchers who make these programs viable. |
| Hooman Noradpour | RIAAM | |
| Dante Paz | IATE - Conicet, Argentina | I strongly support this open letter. Physics and Astronomy departments at Sussex are internationally valued, and compulsory redundancies would seriously damage research, teaching, and the broader scientific community. I urge the University to reconsider these cuts and protect these essential activities. |
| Nelson Padilla | Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental (CONICET - Argentina) | |
| Felicity Hyde-Thompson | Former staff of Sussex University | |
| Itzebelt Santoyo | As a former international student, I specifically sought out a physics postgraduate program that would provide the right opportunities and support me in building a successful scientific career. The department exceeded those expectations. Penalizing such a strong department would be a significant step in the wrong direction. It would affect not only current and future students and the university itself, but also the international collaborations and scientific partnerships that the department has worked so hard to establish and maintain. | |
| Ioannis Gialamas | KBFI, Tallinn, Estonia | |
| Thomas Schucker | Centre de Physique Theorique, Marseille | I stand in solidarity with my colleagues at the University of Sussex. |
| Pedro Ferreira | University of Oxford | Once again, a short sighted strategy to balance the books. Sussex particle physics and astronomy are world leading and it is absurd that they are being put in this position. |
| Özgür Akarsu | Istanbul Technical University (ITU) | |
| David Valls-Gabaud | CNRS - Observatoire de Paris | |
| Pietro Ghedini | IFIC, CSIC-UV | |
| Eduardo Guendelman | Ben Gurion University of the Negev | |
| Sofie Ried | University of Sheffield | |
| Federico Stasyszyn | IATE - OAC / Córdoba, Argentina | Sussex Astronomy is an internationally respected centre for cosmology and galaxy formation, and a vital part of UK physics. The proposed cuts would cause lasting damage to research, teaching, student recruitment and global reputation. I urge the University to rule out compulsory redundancies and work with staff on sustainable alternatives. |
| Sarah Rugheimer | University of Edinburgh | |
| Poppy Joshi | University of Sussex, Research Student | |
| Dr Natalie Hogg | University of Cambridge | |
| Enrico Specogna | University of Sheffield | |
| Ardhra Prakash | Argelander Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn | |
| Sabino Matarrese | Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia G. Galilei, Università di Padova - Italy | |
| Lucas Vicente Garcia-Consuegra | King’s College London | |
| Jacopo Uggeri | King's College London | |
| Pilar Ruiz-Lapuente | Instituto de Física Fundamental (CSIC) | |
| Susha Parameswaran | University of Liverpool | |
| Álvaro Cendal | Universidad Complutense de Madrid | |
| Daniel Kessler | University of Sheffield | |
| Mindaugas Karciauskas | Center for Physical Sciences and Technology (FTMC) | |
| Mindaugas Karciauskas | Center for Physical Sciences and Technology (FTMC) | |
| José Pedro Mimoso | University of Lisbon, Faculty of Science and Instituto de Astrofísica | As an alumni of the U. Sussex I am particularly sadned by the plans for redundancies in Physics and Astronomy, which will only produce further decline of what was a distinguished University in the U.K. So I lend all my full support to the open Letter! |
| Miguel Zumalacarregui | Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics | |
| Ntelis Pierros | Harbin Institute of Technology, and Institute of Theoretical Physics at National University of Uzbekistan | |
| Vitalij Ivanov | University of Sheffield | |
| B.S. Sathyaprakash | The Pennsylvania State University | |
| Laxmipriya Pati | University of Tartu | |
| Pranjal Chaturvedi | Indian Institute of Technology Indore | |
| Samuel Brieden | RWTH Aachen | |
| Marco Raveri | University of Genova | |
| Sebastian Ellis | King's College London | |
| Salvatore Capozziello | Università di Napoli Federico II | |
| Fabio Finelli | INAF OAS Bologna | |
| Alex Jenkins | University of Cambridge | |
| Massimo | SISSA | |
| Lauren Conway | Alumni | |
| Prof. Konstantinos Dimopoulos | Lancaster University | |
| Nency Patel | Sussex Physics and Astronomy Alumni | |
| Silvia De Bianchi | University of Milan Statale | |
| Ken Rice | University of Edinburgh | |
| Prof. Nadav Drukker | King's College London (KCL) | |
| Marie Martig | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Prof Dr Mairi Sakellariadou | King's College London | |
| Jackson Levi Said | Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy, University of Malta | |
| Prof Meghan Gray | University of Nottingham | Having worked in undergraduate recruitment for physics for over a decade I am well aware of the exceptional importance that particle physics and astronomy play in inspiring the next generation to study physics. These are the same students needed to fill the significant employment gap in physics-related industries (which underpin 11% of the UK’s GDP). It is incredibly short-sighted to inflict damage of this scale on a group with such a strong track record of high-profile, successful research and public engagement. My thoughts are with everyone affected. |
| Vasiliki A. Mitsou | IFIC - CSIC / University of Valencia | |
| Willem Elbers | Durham University | |
| Nihan Katirci | Dogus university istanbul | |
| Andrina Nicola | University of Manchester | |
| Sven Gnutzmann | University of Nottingham | |
| Goran Djordjevic | University of Nis and SEENET-MTP Centre | |
| Ayush Hazarika | International Center for Theoretical Physics Asia-Pacific (ICTP-AP), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China | No one can stop the downfall of UK, if the scientific community is not supported well enough. Keep promoting mediocricy at Sussex by cutting funding. |
| Shankaranarayanan S | Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT B) | |
| Leandros Perivolaropoulos | University of Ioannina | This is a bad decision for Sussex as it is dismandling a regional centre of Physics excellence but good for the other Institutions that will be hiring these world leading experts in both reasearch and education. |
| Alessio Spurio Mancini | Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Latham Boyle | University of Edinburgh | A world-class, world-recognized physics research department like this one is a precious thing, much easier to destroy than to build. This would be a terrible mistake. |
| Marina David | KU Leuven | |
| S Jana | Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics | |
| Karthik Rajeev | University of Edinburgh | |
| Nitin Rughoonauth | University of Mauritius | |
| Colin Hill | Columbia University | |
| VASILIOS ZARIKAS | UNIVERSITY of THESSALY | |
| Matt Kenzie | University of Cambridge | |
| Emmanuel SAUVAN | CNRS/IN2P3 | |
| Alessandro Tomasiello | Università di Milano-Bicocca | |
| Stefano Salvia | Polytechnic University of Turin | |
| Martin Sahlén | Uppsala University | I was at the Astronomy Centre 2004-2009 incl. DPhil studies. It was then, as now, an excellent research environment and it would be really shortsighted and destructive to decimate it. |
| Chris Kouvaris | National Technical University of Athens | |
| Bernardo Ricci | Università degli Studi diUdine | |
| Shabbir Shaikh | Arizona State University | |
| Steven Finkelstein | The University of Texas as Austin | |
| Miguel Escudero Abenza | CERN | |
| Linn Boldt-Christmas | Uppsala University, Sweden | |
| Caroline Foster | University of New South Wales | |
| Dr Emily L. Hunt | University of Vienna | |
| Chris Lintott | University of Oxford | Sussex is an outstanding department playing a leading role in the UK astronomy program. |
| Georgia Marchant | Uppsala University | |
| Prof. Anna Watts | University of Amsterdam | |
| Spyros Basilakos | Director & Chairman of BoD Nat. Obs. of Athens & Director of Research Academy of Athens | |
| Joseph Frankl | Private | My father Daniel Frankl (d. 2003) was a visiting professor at Sussex in 1969-70 and of course would have opposed the destruction of scientific research. |
| Jon Goldwin | University of Bristol | This would cause incalculable harm to individuals and your institution without solving any of the underlying problems. |
| Prof Jayne Birkby | University of Oxford | |
| Joonas Hirvonen | University of Nottingham | |
| Daniela Paoletti | INAF-OAS Bologna, Italy | Even in the most difficult times cutting on culture is cutting the future. Education and research are the main drivers of the future of a society, history already taught us that it backfires on the long term and not in a mild way. Sussex is a centre of excellence in Astronomy and physics, it is unreasonable to target it, there are alternative ways to save money without affecting the lives of reasearchers and students, just sit down and discuss with the people involved, and you will find them. |
| Patricia Diego Palazuelos | Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics | |
| Matthew Kenworthy | Leiden Observatory, Leiden University | |
| Michele Citran | University Paris-Cité | |
| Matthew Burleigh | University of Leicester | |
| Jeanne Wilson | King's College London | I was lucky enough to undertake a post-doc in the physics department at Sussex, and still collaborate closely with highly respected Sussex academics who provide essential expertise to our international particle physics experiments. I have also observed the high quality teaching and supportive environment Sussex Physics provides for undergraduate students, underpinned by world-class research. The proposed cuts would simply be devastating. |
| Andrew Chisholm | University of Birmingham | |
| Denis Sergeev | University of Bristol | |
| Antonio Quintana Estellés | Instituto de Física Fundamental (IFF CSIC, Madrid) | |
| Kavin Selvaraj | University of Sheffield | |
| Richard Easther | U of Auckland | There are too many of these open letters, and this seems like proposal that comes at the expense of both academic values and the long-term good of the institution. The work done in Physics and Astronomy at Sussex is visible worldwide. When I was a PhD student in New Zealand in the 1990s the cosmology team at Sussex set the pace for much of the field -- and today is no different. It takes a generation to build that sort of legacy and only a few months to lose it. |
| Jacopo Bertolotti | University of Exeter | |
| Serena Giardino | Imperial College London | |
| Giacomo Polesello | Istituto Nazionale Fisica Nucleare Italy | I collaborate with the colleagues of Sussex University working in the ATLAS experiment and in phenomenology since many years, and I admire the work they have performed in creating word class groups, with leading roles in many key international projects in elementary particle physics. The proposed cuts will destroy this work, and they will severely damage the scientific community in the UK and globally in the world. I urge Sussex University to reconsider the proposed cuts. |
| Raphael Shirley | Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics | Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex is a hugely valuable asset for the UK science base which is vital for economic development, and intellectual and technological advancement. Cuts will be hugely damaging, short sighted, and counterproductive. I urge the decision makers to reconsider. |
| Djuna Croon | Durham University | It is an absolute shock that this is happening to such an excellent department with many valued researchers. This short-sided move will have serious repercussions for years to come. |
| Nils A. Nilsson | Institute for Basic Science, Korea | |
| James Drummond | University of Southampton | |
| Alfonso Aragon-Salamanca | University of Nottingham | |
| Mary Richardson-Slipper | University of Cambridge | |
| Anna Porredon | CIEMAT | |
| James Mullaney | The University of Sheffield | |
| Martina Gerbino | INFN Ferrara | |
| Anne-Marie Weijmans | University of St Andrews | |
| Aine O'Brien | University of Glasgow | |
| Prof. Nabil Iqbal | Durham University | |
| Rita Neves | University of Sheffield | |
| Grace Smith | Durham University | As an early career researcher, it is disheartening to see yet another astronomy group suffer from short-sighted redundancies that will not only impact the current staff and students, but also the next generation of researchers. Astronomy attracted me to studying physics, and I worry that staff cuts at this level will greatly reduce the number of students coming into physics, resulting in loss of highly skilled graduates. Discoveries in astronomy (and indeed physics more widely) have an impact that reaches far beyond broadening our understanding of the Universe, and the damage done by targeting these research areas will be equally widespread. |
| Dr Benjamin Wynne | University of Edinburgh | Decade-long projects and carefully-assembled research teams cannot just be scaled up and down in response to financial fluctuations. As an ATLAS member I work with colleagues in Sussex regularly, and rely on them for some of the most crucial parts of data-collection. |
| Gianna Loeschcke Centeno | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique | As a former PhD student in the School of Physics and Astronomy at Sussex, I was shocked to hear this news. The Sussex ATLAS team has been a strong and collaborative group, playing a central role in many areas of the ATLAS collaboration. I was fortunate to be part of this team during my PhD, and I greatly benefited from their support as I moved into postdoctoral positions. It was clear from my interactions with colleagues at other institutions how highly respected and valued the Sussex team is. Losing such a successful and internationally recognised group would be a significant loss for both the University and the wider particle physics community. |
| Tarek Anous | Queen Mary University of London | |
| Dr Oliver Newton, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow | University of Surrey, UK | Cuts such as this threaten to significantly degrade a prestigious department that is highly regarded for its world-leading contributions to physics and astronomy. Rebuilding this global recognition will take decades. |
| Erica Caden | SNOLAB, McGill University, Laurentian University | Cutting faculty is not the way to save universities. |
| Kushal Pithia | Aston University | |
| Niall Jeffrey | King's College London | As a cosmologist, I know the Physics & Astronomy Department at the University of Sussex to be world-famous. It should be a source of pride for the University. This proposal will cause significant reputational damage. |
| Rebecca Smethurst | University of Oxford | |
| Kari Rummukainen | University of Helsinki | |
| Dong Ha Lee | University of Sheffield | |
| Dr Minas Karamanis | UC Berkeley | My undergraduate mentor earned his PhD at Sussex — his example is the reason I pursued cosmology through to postdoc level. Dismantling this department over a temporary funding gap would sever exactly the kind of lineage that builds a field. Please reconsider. |
| Anik Halder | University of Cambridge | |
| Stevie King | Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Venus Keus | Dublin IAS/CERN | |
| David Tsang | University of Bath, Department of Physics | |
| Xander Byrne | University of Cambridge | |
| Chris Hays | Oxford University | |
| Dr Nikolaos Rompotis | University of Liverpool | The university strategy of a public university has to be long-term and align with the long-term needs of the nation. Currently, this decision seems to be short sighted and to be out of line with that. |
| Chris Lovell | Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge | |
| Arturo de Giorgi | Durham University IPPP | |
| Laura Herold | Johns Hopkins University | |
| Armando Bernui | Observatório Nacional (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) | |
| Thomas O’Keeffe | University of Sussex Alumni | I am privileged to have undertaken my bachelors in Physics and Astrophysics at Sussex in 2010. I am saddened to hear that the same academics and staff who helped steer me through my course with incredible wisdom, experience and multitude of prestigious acollades and accomplishments are being targeted during this administration process. I hope Sussex reconsiders this process and protects the faculty that offer so much to their students |
| Lucie Green | UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory | |
| Stephen Thorp | University of Cambridge | We need to stop closing down physics and astronomy research in the UK! |
| Prof. Justin Khoury | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Mathew Madhavacheril | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Dylan Rankin | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Nina Hatch | University of Nottingham | |
| Mariangela Bernardi | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Rhiannon Smith-Jones | University of Sheffield | |
| Kevin Weatherill | Durham University | |
| Matthew Jones | Durham University | I got my PhD in Sussex physics in 2003, and it opened more doors for me than I ever imagined. The international reputation of Sussex physics was the reason why. Cuts at this scale will destroy this reputation, irreversibly damaging the ability to recruit talented UG and PG students, not just in physics but across all sciences. Sussex ought to know its a long way back from there, given the mistakes made in its past. Imagine if a new particle is announced at the LHC in 2028. How would the retreat from particle physics and astronomy look then? |
| Dr. Nils Schöneberg | LMU Munich | The astrophysics group in Sussex includes some of the top researchers in the field, and it's very surprising to hear that this very successful group should be reduced so significantly, especially compared to other parts of the Sussex university. It would be a great loss for science in the UK and internationally. |
| Mark Hodgkinson | University of Sheffield | I was shocked to learn of these proposed cuts - the group makes world class contributions to the experiment I work on (ATLAS) and this would be a big blow to the community. I understand these cuts may be driven by fears of cuts in SFTC funding - if so this seems like an impulsive reaction to something that has not yet happened and I would urge the university to reconsider! |
| Bowen Zhang | University of Warwick | |
| Luis Escamilla | Istanbul Technical Institute | |
| Bozena Czerny | Center for Theoretical Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences | New instruments like Vera Rubin Observatory (LSST) will be bringing huge amount of astronomical data. AI can help to classify objects, but people are needed to train AI and critically asses the goals leading to deep understanding of the Universe structure. |
| Steffen Gielen | University of Sheffield | |
| Dario Bettoni | Universidad de León | |
| Ieva Jankute | Durham University | |
| Dragan Huterer | University of Michigan | Sussex has a worldwide reputation in the fields of Physics and Astronomy, and faculty who have helped pushing boundaries of our knowledge in these fields for decades. I have been lucky to have colleagues from this distinguished department, and have always held a very high opinion of their work. I am alarmed about the draconian decision to make these cuts, and sincerely hope that it will be reversed. |
| Ariel Zandivarez | Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba (UNC) - Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental (CONICET-UNC), Argentina. | |
| Elisabeth Kneale | University of Sheffield | |
| Jonathan Oel | University of Sussex, PhD student | |
| Cahir O'Kane | University of Cambridge | |
| Sebastian Marino | University of Exeter | |
| Glen Cowan | Royal Holloway, University of London | The Sussex Particle/Astro groups deserve the highest level of support. |
| Robert Reischke | University of Bonn | |
| Ferruccio Renzoni | University College London | |
| Sarah D. Johnson | Simon Fraser University | |
| David Parkinson | Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute | The Astronomy Centre has built an international reputation over many decades through its research, teaching, and the scientists it has trained. Communities of this calibre cannot be recreated quickly once they are dismantled. I recognise that universities face serious financial pressures, but I hope the University will find a way to protect this internationally respected centre of research and education. The long-term value of the Astronomy Centre to UK science and to the wider international community is far greater than any short-term financial saving. |
| Daniel D. Kelson | Carnegie Observatories | |
| Dr. Santosh V. Lohakare | Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India | Strong research groups such as PPAN take many years to build but can be dismantled very quickly. I respectfully urge you to reconsider this decision, as the loss of such a group would have a significant impact not only nationally but also on the international research community. |
| Prof Mike Bode | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Michelle Collins | University of Surrey | |
| Saverio D'Auria | University of Milan | |
| Rita Tojeiro | University of St Andrews | It is extremely worrying to hear of these plans. The Astronomy group in Sussex carries substantial leadership in the UK and the world in cosmology and extragalactic Astronomy. I would have hoped that Universities would support groups of international standing to weather times of national funding scarcity, not the other way around. My thoughts are with my colleagues and everyone else whose jobs are at risk in Sussex. |
| Laura Wolz | University of Manchester | |
| Katharine Tomlins | Sussex university Alumni | I did my science undergrad at Sussex, it is heartbreaking to see world class research groups being dismantled. |
| Prem Kumar | Swansea University | Sussex is an internationally renowned centre of research in excellence in cosmology, astronomy and particle physics. Cutting this activity is a monumental act of self-harm to Sussex and to the UK. Blue skies scientific research is a major strength of the UK with immense returns and impact. I urge the University to reconsider their decision. |
| Rowan Pease | SOAS University of London | As an alumna of Sussex from the 1980s, when Denys Wilkinson was vice chancellor, this news is profoundly shocking. |
| Shuang Zhou | INAF-OABrera | |
| Cedric Lacey | Durham University | |
| Kelley M. Hess | Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology | |
| Jan M. Pawlowski | Heidelberg University | |
| Prof. Andy Bunker | University of Oxford | |
| Margherita Lembo | Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris | |
| Ruth Durrer | Theoretical Physics Department, Geneva University | |
| Sam Haken | University of Cambridge | |
| Jesse Golden-Marx | University of Nottingham | Having had many collaborators and colleagues who have worked within the Observational Cosmology group at Sussex, I can attest that this is an excellent department and these proposed cuts will cause great harm to the University and larger UK astronomy and physics communities as a whole. |
| Professor Martin Haehnelt | University of Cambridge | |
| Prof. Sergey Koposov | University of Edinburgh | |
| Valentina Lozza | LIP Lisbon | I have collaborated with researchers in the University of Sussex since more than 15 years in Neutrino physics. This measure is extremely shocking and I hope it will be reconsidered. It will dismantle expertise recognised worldwide, which will be very difficult to rebuild. |
| Beymar Quenallata | LIP | |
| James Dyke | Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter | |
| Jacobo Asorey | Universidad de Zaragoza | The Astronomy Centre and the Departament of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex are world-leading groups in the field. I was extremely lucky to visit them during my PhD studies and enjoy their well-established scientific and training reputation. It will take a long time to recover from the proposed cuts, as has been the case at other institutions that faced similar layoffs worldwide, while the prestige of the department adds up an intangible value to the University of Sussex and the United Kingdom. |
| Logan Lebanowski | University of California, Berkeley | |
| Mark Ward | Queen's University | |
| Laura Kormos | Lancaster University | Academics and PS staff are the only things that bring income to the university. Cut something else, not staff. |
| Lurdes Ondaro Mallea | University of Cambridge | |
| Professor Steven Biller | University of Oxford | Having worked with members of the Sussex experimental particle physics for many years on a number of high profile international projects, there is no doubt they are a gifted and highly regarded group and that this action would be a devastating loss to UK particle physics, to the international projects on which they work, and to Sussex university itself. I urge you to reconsider this - throwing away such a valued investment and decimating a group of this stature cannot be the best way to insure a bright and sustainable future for the university, particularly at a time when core STEM subjects like this have become increasingly important for the future of our society. |
| Will Parker | University of Oxford | |
| Emmanuel Saridakis | National Observatory of Athens | |
| martinez perez christian | URCA | |
| Prof.Dr.Florent Calvayrac | Le Mans Université | |
| Magnien Pierre | French National Éducation | |
| Liam P. McQuellin | University of Oxford | |
| Stephanie Majewski | University of Oregon | I collaborate with the University of Sussex experimental particle physics group on ATLAS in the area of Trigger and Data Acquisition. They are outstanding scientists and make world-class contributions to the field of particle physics. |
| Clara Nellist | University of Amsterdam and Nikhef | |
| Nandan Roy | Centre for Theoretical Physics and Natural Philosophy, Mahidol University | |
| Gaëlle Leroux | CNRS / France | |
| Wenjing Yan | University of Nottingham | We worked hard building the foundation of science, understanding the physics, the chemistry, the biology, and the maths, only for it to be axed to the ground because someone higher above in the policy making believes artificial intelligence is above the intelligence of humanity! Where is the demonstration of intelligence in the decision making? The selection criteria seems to be arbitrary chosen, at one point they ask you to demonstrate international leadership, at another point, they say the subject is of no importance and is not worth spending the time on. Knowledge takes time to develop, there is no magic in it. |
| Adrian Jenkins | Durham University | |
| Andreas Ringwald | Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY | |
| Roberta Giusteri | INAF - Astronomical Observatory of Trieste (Italy) | |
| Mark Wilkinson | University of Leicester | |
| Agostinho Gomes | LIP and University of Lisbon | |
| Christian Roques | Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès | |
| Tiina Minkkinen | University of Helsinki | |
| Qichen Dong | University of Oxford | I am deeply concerned by this decision. I have had the privilege of working with colleagues from the Sussex ATLAS group, many of whom are among the finest physicists I have met. Dismantling the Sussex Physics group would be a profound loss, not only to the UK physics community but also to the broader public interest. |
| Cyrielle Opitom | University of Edinburgh | |
| Samuel Young | University of Pisa | |
| Dagois | Université Paris8 | |
| Dr Matthew Kirk | IPPP, Durham University | |
| Khang Minh Nguyen | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Bjarki Björgvinsson | Durham University | |
| Martin Bauer | IPPP, Durham University | |
| Aleksi Vuorinen | University of Helsinki | |
| Tommaso Lari | INFN (Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics) | I have collaborated for many years with the Particle Physics group of the University of Sussex, which is well known in the field worldwide as performing outstanding research. The proposed cuts are extremely concerning. Excellence should be reinforced, not punished. |
| Romina P. Petrucci | Observatorio Astronómico - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba / CONICET | |
| Kostas Skenderis | University of Southampton | |
| Alessia Pasquazi | Loughborough university | |
| Jorge Martin Camalich | Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias | I am deeply indebted to the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sussex, where I had the privilege of working as a young postdoc. It would be a tremendous shame if the hard-won excellence, reputation, and research capacity built in Sussex over so many years were now put at risk and lost. |
| Michele Bianco | ETH Zurich | |
| Ruggero Turra | Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) | |
| Jan Wollenberg | Alumni | |
| Alan Barr | University of Oxford | |
| Edmund Copeland | University of Nottingham | Sussex has enjoyed an International reputation for the standard of its pioneering research and innovative teaching in particle physics and astronomy since it was established in 1962 under the leadership Roger Blin Stoyle. I spent 15 fantastic years there as a particle cosmologist, working closely with colleagues in the particle group and astronomy centre. I enjoyed some of the happiest times of my life there. The department has in many ways been built on the back of its STFC subjects, and so it is so sad and short sighted to see those particular areas being targeted simply because of current financial issues facing STFC. Senior managers should ask themselves what it is about physics that attracts students and the publics interest in the first place? What has sparked their interest to study physics? It's nearly always astronomy, understanding the wonderful universe we live in, or particle physics, understanding the forces of nature that bind us together. Losing those not only means that the country loses one of its best research centres, but Sussex's reputation for supporting research and for caring about its students will take a huge hit ! Don't simply do what the latest consultants are telling you to do, there are so many ways to save the money you need to without decimating world renowned areas of research - you won't be able retrieve them and the students won't come ! |
| Domizia Orestano | Roma Tre University and INFN | Fundamental Physics, including theoretical and experimental particle physics, is a strategic pillar of a research-intensive university. It advances frontier knowledge, strengthens the University's international scientific profile, and attracts competitive funding and world-class collaborations. At the same time, it provides outstanding training by developing rigorous analytical thinking, quantitative skills, and expertise in advanced technologies, computation, and data science. Investing in these disciplines enhances scientific excellence, fosters innovation across fields, and equips the next generation of researchers and highly skilled professionals to address future scientific and technological challenges. It is astonishing that a well-established institution would even consider such a profound reduction in the staff of these groups, as well as of the Astronomy Centre. Moreover, I am personally very familiar with its Experimental Particle Physics community, primarily through our shared involvement in the ATLAS experiment at CERN, and I have the highest regard for the quality and international standing of its research. |
| Eduardo Grossi | University of Florence & INFN | |
| Antonio Smecca | INFN Sezione di Roma Tre | |
| Alessia Platania | NBI | |
| Gerald Dunne | University of Connecticut | These proposed cuts are particularly short-sighted in light of the boom of activity and progress in the fields of quantum science and technology and in astronomy and astrophysics. |
| Tasos Avgoustidis | University of Nottingham | |
| James Taylor | Alumni | While the University of Sussex is not a red brick institution its physics department has been one of its strongest draws for over a decade and the quality of the department cannot be overstated. It seems paradoxical to make cuts to something that is an exemplar of the university, let alone disproportionate cuts. |
| Ella Wood | University of Cambridge | |
| Janik Karoly | University College London | |
| Benjamin Knorr | Heidelberg University | |
| Prof. Fabio La Franca | Dip. di Matematica e Fisica/Università Roma Tre | |
| Roberto Franceschini | Roma Tre University | |
| Cristiano Sabiu | University of Seoul | |
| Diego Buccio | Heidelberg University | |
| Prof. Astrid Eichhorn | Heidelberg University | |
| Aaron Held | École Normale Supérieure | |
| Tamara Vazquez Schroeder | IFAE (Barcelona) | As former ATLAS Exotics convener and current member of the LHC Beyond-the-Standard-Model Working Group steering committee, I am deeply shocked by the suggested redundancies affecting the Experimental Particle Physics, Theoretical Particle Physics, and Astronomy Centre at the University of Sussex. I have worked directly with the ATLAS group in numerous occasions, and I am familiar with their outstanding contributions to the physics programme in ATLAS. Such a measure would have a severe long-lasting impact on Sussex and UK relevance in high energy physics. |
| William Hunter | University of Oxford | |
| Fabrizio Caola | University of Oxford | |
| Francesco Sanfilippo | INFN Roma Tre | |
| Yuchen Cai | INFN, Bologna | It was a privilege to spend a year at the University of Sussex as an exchange PhD student from 2023 to 2024 while I was pursuing my PhD. What I learned from the Sussex Particle Physics Group has shaped me both personally and scientifically. The Sussex Particle Physics Group is highly respected worldwide for its contributions to our field. The people building the future of science should not have to bear the cost of securing the future. |
| Roman Pasechnik | Lund University | |
| Valerio Descontus | PhD student in Università degli Studi Roma Tre | |
| Elmé Breedt | University of Cambridge | |
| Jani Dahl | University of Helsinki | |
| Mike Soughton | Alumni | As one of the most accredited Physics research departments in the country, the Sussex Physics and Astronomy department has been instrumental in providing both vital education to students and quality research in the many areas of Physics covered by the department. After many years of dedicated professionalism and dedication, not to mention the high levels of revenue brought in via students, it is shocking that the Sussex central administration believe it acceptable to cut staff positions within the department. Perhaps the University should consider cutting its own bloated and inefficient central administration department before the cutting the vital lifeblood of the University. |
| Jean Alexandre | King's College London | |
| Marco Peccianti | Loughborough University | |
| Javier Rubio | Universidad Complutense de Madrid | |
| Sownak Bose | Durham University | |
| Youngwan Son | Institue of Basic Science, Sungkyunkwan University | |
| Mario Grandi | University of Sussex PhD graduate | |
| Nick Wright | Keele University | |
| Santiago Agui Salcedo | Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics | |
| Ricardo Schiavon | Liverpool John Moores University | |
| Elisa G. M. Ferreira | Kavli IPMU | |
| RIOTTO ANTONIO | University of Geneva | |
| Gustavo P. de Brito | São Paulo State University / Assistant Professor | |
| Jeevak Parpia | Cornell University, Department of Physics, Ithaca NY, USA | |
| Tanmay Vachaspati | Arizona State University | The Physics and Astronomy department at Sussex University has a rich history of excellence and continues to do very important fundamental science. It is critical to maintain it. The proposed changes would decimate the department and would be a huge setback for science in the UK. |
| James Sauls | Louisiana State University / Professor of Physics and Astronomy | Cuts of the proposed magnitude to Physics faculty and staff at University of Sussex would be devastating to the University's education and research programs, and a serious blow to UK science and education more broadly. |
| John Beacom | Ohio State University | This move would greatly damage the UK's standing in frontier scientific areas that inspire students and spur the economy. |
| Alessandro Cerri | University of Siena | |
| Shinji Mukohyama | RESCEU, U Tokyo & YITP, Kyoto U | I realise that UK universities are facing complex challenges. I sincerely hope that the people, expertise, and research communities built over many years can be supported and sustained for future generations. |
| Patricia Scully | University of Galway | |
| Kiwoon Choi | Institute for Basic Science | |
| Daniel Baumann | University of Cambridge | |
| Marco Pallavicini | Università di Genova and INFN (Italy) | |
| Jessica Turner | IPPP, Durham University | I strongly support our colleagues in Physics and Astronomy at Sussex. The staff are excellent researchers and teachers and their work is internationally recognised in particle physics, astronomy and cosmology. The proposed cuts would do serious and lasting damage to UK fundamental science and to the research-led teaching that attracts and trains students in physics. These communities take decades to build and cannot be reconstructed easily once lost. I urge the University to reconsider and to protect its Physics and Astronomy staff. |
| Géraldine Servant | DESY and U. Hamburg | Please reconsider this self-destructive move. |
| Leszek Roszkowski | Astrocent Institute and Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences | DON'T DO IT! |
| Goran Senjanovic | ICTP, Trieste, Italu | |
| Kareem Marzouk | Sussex Alumni (MPhys, PhD) | |
| Dr Zara Grout | Joint Data and Analysis Centre, Cabinet Office | Speaking personally as a former PhD student, I am incredibly saddened and disappointed to hear of the planned cuts. In addition to it's excellent standing both nationally and internationally in physics and astronomy, the dept. also provides a unique community where both students and researchers can thrive. I don't think either aspect will be sustainable should these plans go ahead. |
| Matthew McCullough | CERN | |
| Dr Jessica Pilling | University of Sussex | |
| Daniele Bertacca | Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia "Galileo Galilei" Università di Padova, Italy | |
| Howard Haber | University of California, Santa Cruz | Just because our short-sighted US federal government is significantly cutting support to many areas of academic science does not mean that the UK should emulate this short-sighted approach. If the current path is not reversed, it will take at least a generation (or more) to restore the scientific vitality of our two countries. |
| Riccardo Penco | Carnegie Mellon University | |
| Hannah Parsler | Durham University | |
| Prof. Peter Wheatley | University of Warwick | |
| Gavin Ramsay | Armagh Observatory and Planetarium | |
| Martin Kunz | University of Geneva, Switzerland | |
| John Taylor | Keele University | |
| Johannes Noller | University College London | The Physics and Astronomy department as Sussex is well-known around the world for its cutting-edge research and teaching. The proposed cuts threaten to irreversibly damage this, with dramatic implications not just for the individuals affected, but also for the University's reputation and indeed finances. Cutting academic staff has adverse effects on student satisfaction, recruitment, and grant application success, all of which will do much more damage to the University's finances in the long run than the short term financial relief that presumably motivates these proposed cuts. I therefore urge the University of Sussex to explore alternative solutions to the financial issues it faces. |
| Aprajita Verma | University of Oxford | |
| Andrew Liddle | University of Lisbon | Having spent the majority of my career at Sussex and been involved in hiring many of these staff, I am dismayed and appalled at this news. Sussex has a unique character as a department focussing on the most fundamental issues in physics, with fantastic faculty and a legacy of former students and postdocs in key positions worldwide. This is where the future is made. It must not suffer this pointless short-termist vandalism. |
| Gian Paolo Vacca | INFN Bologna | The Theoretical physics group of Sussex University is a world excellence. What's happening is a shame. |
| Georgia Kruger | University of Sussex alum | All of the staff I engaged with throughout my degree were crucial to my success and enthusiasm in my degree. The university are continuing to make cuts which are detrimental to current and future students and themselves. Students go to university for a high-quality education, something the decision makers are the University of Sussex is making scarce. |
| Kin Keung Chu | An alum | |
| Daniel O'Hanmlon | Imperial College London | Universities are public organisations entrusted to defend and sustain their research communities. The current leadership of the University of Sussex has apparently lost sight of this responsibility, and the public deserves better. |
| Ashu Kushwaha | Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan | |
| Jen Gupta | University of Portsmouth | |
| Joe Cole | University of Sussex alumni | |
| Prof. Thomas Becher | University of Bern | I am shocked and deeply concerned by the proposed staff cuts. Researchers at the University of Sussex are among the leading researchers in my field of particle physics. These reductions would represent a significant loss to the field and would seriously damage Sussex’s international reputation. |
| Matthias Neubert | MITP, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz & Cornell University | |
| Laura fabbietti | Technische Universität München | I strongly support this petition |
| Agostinho Gomes | LIP and FCUL - Lisbon | |
| Giulia Zanderighi | Max Planck Institute for Physics | Compulsory redundancies at the University of Sussex would damage the University's reputation for many years to come. Concentrating these cuts on the particle theory group, which has consistently produced internationally recognised, frontier research, is particularly unfair and would have lasting negative consequences for the University's research profile and standing. |
| Massimiliano Grazzini | Department of Physics, University of Zurich | |
| Eric Laenen | Nikhef and University of Amsterdam | |
| Diego Baron | The University of Manchester | |
| Arjun Berera | University of Edinburgh | |
| Pratika Dayal | Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) | I am appalled to hear of these cuts to the world-leading PPA department at Sussex. my own academic journey started there as a young masters student. Destroying the legacy of excellence Sussex has built in this area would be an enormous blow to UK science. |
| Melissa van Beekveld | Nikhef | |
| Keith Hamilton | University College London | |
| Oleari Carlo | Universita' di Milano-Bicocca | |
| Alexander Karlberg | Max Planck Institute for Physics | |
| Silvia Ferrario Ravasio | Universita' degli Studi di Torino | |
| Simone Caletti | Università di Torino and INFN | I am due to start an MSCA fellowship at the University of Sussex in September 2027, working with Professor Banfi. It would be nice to be able to carry out the fellowship as originally intended. |
| Francesco Tramontano | Università di Napoli Federico II | |
| Andrew Hopkins | Macquarie University | The UK should look to the recent fiasco in Australia where a large proportion of universities went through significant rounds of redundancies and staff cuts, to address what in the end has largely turned out to be spurious funding shortfalls and serious leadership mis-management across the sector. This has led to ongoing institutional reputation damage nationally and internationall. Before taking such drastic action, which reduces capacity overnight in a way that cannot be restored without decades of rebuilding, serious investigation of practical alternatives must be pursued. |
| Daniele Lombardi | Università di Torino | |
| Wouter Waalewijn | University of Amsterdam | |
| Alessandro Gavardi | Universita' di Torino | |
| Marco Rocco | Università degli Studi di Torino | |
| Alessandro Vicini | University of Milano | |
| Lewis Proctor | Sussex alumni | |
| Pier Monni | CERN | |
| Luca Rottoli | University of Milan-Bicocca | |
| Alexander Huss | CERN | |
| Petr Jakubčík | University of Oxford | |
| Germán RODRIGO | University of Valencia - National Spanish Research Council CSIC | |
| Paul O'Brien | University of Leicester | |
| Robert Pascalau | Unicersity of Cambridge | |
| Ana Cueto | Universidad Autónoma de Madrid | These proposed cuts would seriously damage the University of Sussex's international reputation in particle physics and its ability to attract outstanding students and researchers. As a member of the ATLAS Collaboration, I know the Sussex experimental particle physics group and its leadership well. The impact of these redundancies would extend well beyond Sussex, weakening both the experimental and theoretical particle physics communities. The excellence and reputation that would be lost through these cuts would take many years to rebuild. |
| Samantha Rason MPhys | Graduate of Sussex/European Space Agency | Dismantling more than a third of this department is an act of institutional sabotage. It threatens to permanently cripple an elite center of British science, degrade student education, and break critical international commitments to NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). The proposed cuts: Signal to international partners, such as ESA, that the UK is an unreliable collaborator, driving future space contracts to Europe and the US. Would cripple the Industrial Talent Pipeline: Starving an £18.9bn Sector: The UK space industry employs 55,000 people, and physics graduates make up 34% of that workforce.Worsening a National Crisis: Over 60% of space organizations face severe recruitment shortages; closing Sussex pipelines actively undermines national growth. Starving Local Tech Clusters: Strips regional economies of the analytical, coding, and mathematical minds needed for quantum computing, AI, and defense tech. Would destroy Teaching & Student Research Crushing Staff Workloads: Remaining faculty will be forced to absorb unsustainable teaching loads, destroying Sussex's elite, personal tutorial model. Canceling Advanced Modules: Niche, high-level elective courses in astrophysics and advanced data science will be permanently axed. Evaporating Mentorship: Slashing research supervisors forces final-year undergraduate students into generic group work instead of bespoke, career-defining research projects. Research Collapse & Financial Backfire Losing Multi-Million-Pound Grants: External space agencies fund specific scientists; laying them off freezes or forfeits their research funding entirely. Irreversible Brain Drain: Displaced world-class researchers will take their talents, grants, and prestige to stable universities abroad. Reputational Deficit: Widespread public awareness of these cuts will cause student application numbers to plummet, worsening the university’s financial deficit. The University of Sussex management, if they truly are to manage effectively, need to protect their most successful assets: their people. The researchers, from early career to long established readers and professors in Physics and Astronomy at Sussex are absolutely outstanding. I was lucky enough to be a student here from 2002 to 2007 and my lecturers shaped me into the person I am today, and I owe much of my success to them. It's rare to find such a special place where research excellence comes with such kindness and support; It brings out the best in people and it is where the magic happens, for the benefit of society as a whole. Do not decimate it in short-sightedness. We desperately need physics graduates in the Space Industry and both particle physics and astronomy are the sexy subjects that draw students to study physics, and they need the wonderful specialists that you already have to teach them! Please allow your people to honor commitments to international space science, and preserve the quality of education promised to its students. Stop the physics cuts! |
| Marumi Kado | Max Planck Institute for Physics | |
| Emanuele Re | Universita' Milano-Bicocca | |
| Barry Dillon | Ulster University | |
| Vicky Stephens | Sussex Physics Alumni | The Physics Department at the University of Sussex is the jewel in its crown. It provides world-class research and a top-tier education to many of our country's brightest minds, future innovators and scientific leaders. Beyond the immediate damage of the wanton hobbling of a truly outstanding department, we must also consider the second-order effects. Britain's long-term competitiveness on the world stage depends on maintaining excellence in science and technology. Many of the greatest technological advances of our time are being driven by cutting-edge physics, and the Sussex Physics Department is an incubator of exceptional talent and research. To impose such thoughtless cuts is an act of reckless vandalism against one of our finest scientific institutions, and a careless act of national self-sabotage. |
| Charalampos Anastasiou | ETH Zurich | |
| Christopher Haines | Universidad de Atacama, Chile | |
| Joshua F. Smith | Bachelor of Science | I agree this is short sited from the funding programme that runs the show. They want to invest billions into 'trending' areas of development without the foresight of impact this will have on long term goals of humankind. |
| Dr Leon Baruah | PhD alumnus - University of Sussex | Having spent the best part of a decade in he Physics & Astronomy Dept at Sussex, I am very surprised by this myopic managrment decision. Good luck to the people facing these cuts |
| Boudewijn Roukema | Institute of Astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus University | |
| Alysia Marino | University of Colorado | A real shame for a world class department in particle physics and astronomy. |
| Anadi Canepa | Fermilab | I am currently serving as the CMS Spokesperson. Prior to joining the CMS Collaboration, I was a member of the ATLAS Collaboration and had the privilege of working closely with Dr. Antonella de Santo and the entire Sussex group. The group was outstanding—growing steadily in size, assuming major leadership roles within the experiment, ranging from detector operations, detector upgrade up to high-impact scientific results. The group also provided an excellent training environment for students and postdoctoral researchers, who have gone on to successful careers in high profile positions across academia and the private sectors. |
| Rachel Kerr | University of Sussex | |
| Piers Coleman | Royal Holloway, University of London | The value of physicists at a University is far more than the "research income" that Human Resources counts when making a decision to remove faculty. In other parts of the world, which have Tenure, such decisions as these are rarely made. The perceived quality of Sussex University by the outside world, its ranking, will be affected by these draconian measures. I urge Sussex to desist, and at the very least, consult an outside academic body before these harsh measures. |
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