21 July 2026
Open Letter in Response to Funding Pressures Affecting Diamond Light Source

Professor Michele Dougherty, Executive Chair, Science and Technology Facilities Council

Professor Sir Ian Chapman, Chief Executive, UK Research and Innovation

Re: Protecting Diamond Light Source as Strategic National Infrastructure

Dear Professor Chapman and Professor Dougherty,

We are writing to express our deep concern about the proposed reductions in support for Diamond Light Source. Diamond is the UK’s national synchrotron and a shared national infrastructure of exceptional importance. It provides capabilities that cannot be reproduced in individual universities, research institutes, or companies, enabling researchers to examine materials, biological systems, and manufactured products at scales ranging from whole objects to individual atoms. It is a facility that serves no single discipline, institution, or region: it connects universities, public-sector laboratories, enterprises and industry across the UK, while also making the country a hub for world-leading science and international collaboration.

Diamond is a key enabler of the UK’s Industrial Strategy, providing the advanced research infrastructure that underpins innovation and industrial growth. The government’s Modern Industrial Strategy identifies eight growth-driving sectors and emphasises the importance of long-term certainty, investment, skills, and the infrastructure needed to help businesses grow. Diamond contributes directly to those aims by supporting advanced manufacturing, life sciences, clean energy industries, and materials for digital and quantum technologies, while also strengthening the wider research base for innovation.

The announced 15% reduction over four years in the combined budget for Diamond, ISIS, and CLF, alongside reductions in user support and technical assistance, places this national capability at significant risk. At Diamond, the specific changes have not yet been determined, but any reduction in beamtime, beamlines, specialist support, or technical assistance would have immediate consequences for discovery science, innovation, and the UK’s research base. It would run counter to the government’s ambition to give businesses the stability and capability they need to make long-term investment decisions.

Over the past three financial years, Diamond has supported approximately 3,200 UK research users annually, alongside around 1,600 international users. UK users have come from 85 institutions, demonstrating the breadth of its contribution across disciplines, organisations, and regions. Internationally, Diamond has attracted users from more than 500 institutions, strengthening the UK’s scientific competitiveness, influence and connecting UK researchers with leading collaborators worldwide. Diamond’s publication record is equally striking. Its history exceeds 15,000 peer-reviewed articles, with more than 1,100 produced annually across chemistry, materials science, biology, medicine, physics, energy, environmental science, and engineering. This is not simply a record of academic output. It is evidence of a national platform that enables research at scale, supports high-quality science, and turns public investment into knowledge that can be built upon by others.

Diamond is also central to the UK’s skills pipeline. In the past three years, its users have included more than 3,200 UK doctoral researchers, 2,100 postdoctoral researchers, and 700 research fellows, alongside hundreds of Master’s and undergraduate students. It also supports technical and vocational training, including approximately 80 apprentices. The skills that these early career researchers gain from their time at Diamond are of great value to both their future careers and the academic community, as they represent the next generation of scientists, engineers and users. There is no alternative or substitute, within the existing

UK research infrastructure, where researchers could develop these competencies. In this way, Diamond helps to develop the skills base needed to support long-term growth, including scientists, engineers, software specialists, and technicians required by high-value industries and universities alike.

Industry is deeply embedded in Diamond’s work. UK-based companies in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy materials, catalysis, and advanced manufacturing use the facility to reduce development risk, improve products and processes, and access techniques and expertise that are otherwise unavailable. Around 40% of peer-reviewed proposals involve industrial collaboration, and approximately 20% have direct company funding. In each of the past three years, around 80 companies have purchased proprietary access, including more than 30 UK companies annually.

An independent socioeconomic assessment estimates Diamond’s cumulative monetised impact at least £3.2 billion, equivalent to approximately £3 returned for every £1 of public investment. This includes the value of publications, Protein Data Bank depositions, benefits to academic and industrial users, patents, software, training, industrial income, and direct economic activity. More than one in ten Diamond publications has been cited in a patent, demonstrating the pathway from fundamental research to commercial innovation. These figures translate into tangible benefits for health, economic resilience, and quality of life, including contributions to vaccines and antiviral treatments, sustainable energy technologies, advanced catalysts, recyclable plastics, pollution remediation, and the conservation of national heritage.

Protecting Diamond’s operating capacity is essential if the UK is to realise the full benefits of its existing and continuing public investment, including the Diamond-II upgrade. An advanced facility can only deliver its intended return if it is adequately resourced to operate and support its users.

Reduced operating capacity would have consequences far beyond the facility itself. The impact would be felt across universities, research institutes, and industrial sectors throughout the country. In the longer run, the proposed reductions in capability risk the irreversible loss of internationally recognised expertise, highly skilled technical teams, and established scientific communities that have taken decades to develop. This would diminish the UK's leadership across numerous scientific disciplines enabled by Diamond and increase dependence on international facilities for capabilities that the UK currently possesses. Once lost, this knowledge, expertise, and international standing cannot be rapidly or inexpensively rebuilt.

We therefore urge UKRI and STFC to protect Diamond's operational capability. We further request that decisions about Diamond’s future are transparent, evidence-led, and made in meaningful consultation with its academic and industrial user communities. Protecting Diamond is not simply an investment in one laboratory - it is an investment in the UK's long-term scientific capability, industrial competitiveness, and international leadership.

Yours sincerely,

Silvia Ramos, Reader in Materials Physics (University of Kent)

Anna Regoutz, Associate Professor in Experimental Inorganic Chemistry (University of Oxford)

Simon Kondrat, Senior Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis (Loughborough University)

Hariom Jani, Royal Society University Research Fellow (University of Oxford)

Colin Levy, Senior Experimental Officer (University of Manchester)

Richard Collins, Head of EM Technology Platform (University of Manchester)

Oliver Thomas (University of Oxford)

Luke Daniels, Research Coordinator in Materials Chemistry (University of Liverpool)

Rosa Arrigo, Associate Professor in Inorganic Chemistry (University of Salford)

82
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  1. Ellen Heeley, Senior Lecturer in Physical Chemistry, (The Open University)
  2. Alexander Lunt, Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath
  3. Gary Nichol, Crystallography Service Manager, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh
  4. Peter Wells, Professor of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton
  5. Matthew Potter, Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath
  6. Lindsay-Marie Armstrong, Professor of Decarbonised Systems, University of Southampton, Southampton
  7. Thomas Hase, Professor, University of Warwick, Coventry
  8. Emma McCabe, Associate professor in physics, Durham
  9. Julia Payne, Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry, University of St Andrews, St Andrews
  10. Nida Shahbaz, PhD student, University of St Andrews, St Andrews
  11. Jon Sayers, Professor in Genomic Medicine, University of Sheffield, Sheffield
  12. John Irvine, Professor, University of sr andrews, St andrews
  13. Ailsa O'Riordan, PhD Student, University of St Andrews, St Andrews
  14. Stephen Skinner, Professor, Imperial College London, London
  15. Gavin Mountjoy, Reader in Physics, University of Kent, Canterbury
  16. Reshma R Rao, Assistant Professor, Imperial College London
  17. Alexandre Goguet, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast
  18. Andrea Russell, Emeritus Professor of Physical Electrochemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton
  19. Serena Cussen, Full Professor in Materials Chemistry, University College Dublin, Dublin
  20. Phil King, Professor of Physics, University of St Andrews, St Andrews
  21. Arjit Shankar Banerjee, PhD Student, University of St Andrews, St Andrews
  22. Michael Hayward, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford
  23. Anirudh Jakhmola, PhD Student, Univerisity of Sheffield, Sheffield
  24. Simon Coles, Professor of Structural Chemistry, University of Southampton, Southampton
  25. Stavroula Louka, Postdoc, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
  26. Alex Appleby, PhD Student, University of Kent, Canterbury
  27. Ian Sinclair, Professor of Engineering Materials, University of Southampton, Southampton
  28. Simon Clarke, Professor of Chemistry; IMAT-CDT Director, University of Oxford, Oxford
  29. Natalie Tatum, Senior Research Associate, Newcastle University, Newcastle
  30. Arturo Landeros de la Isla, Postdoc, Diamond Light Source, Didcot
  31. Emma Pugh, Lecturer in Physics, University of Kent, Canterbury
  32. Avantika Hasija, Technical Specialist XRD, University of Manchester, Manchester
  33. Jack Wright, Postgraduate Researcher, University of Manchester, Manchester
  34. Shan Dai, Chemistry, University of Manchester, Manchester
  35. Josh Abbenseth, Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry, University of Manchester, Manchester
  36. Te Wang, student, University of Manchester, Manchester
  37. Sergio Marugán Benito, PhD candidate, UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE MADRID, Madrid
  38. Richard Winpenny, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, The University of Manchester, Manchester
  39. David Morgan, Surface Analysis Manager, Cardiff University, Cardiff
  40. Clare Megarity, PI, University of Manchester, Manchester
  41. Martin Attfield, Reader, The University of Manchester, Manchester
  42. Sam Hay, Professor of Biophysical Chemistry, The University of Manchester, Manchester
  43. Paul Webb, Reader, University of St Andrews, St Andrews
  44. James Everett, Lecturer in Nanoscale Bioscience, Keele University
  45. Jessie Isufaj, PhD Student, University College Dublin, Dublin
  46. Dr. Esmael Balaghi, Electron Microscopy Core Facility Manager, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau
  47. Max Fitzgerald, PhD student, University College Dublin, Dublin
  48. Simon Freakley, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath
  49. Federico Grillo, Scientific Officer - Surface Science, School of Chemistry - University of St Andrews, St Andrews
  50. Ma¬gorzata Swadźba-Kwaśny, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast
  51. Stuart James, Professor, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast
  52. Stephen Carr, University of Oxford
  53. Haresh Manyar, Professor, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast
  54. Neil Dixon, Professor of Sustainable Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, Manchester
  55. Dr. Simon R Bare, Distinguished Scientist, SLAC National AcceleratorLaboratory, San Francisco
  56. Ashok Keerthi, Senior Lecturer, The University of Manchester, Manchester
  57. anonymous
  58. Liqun Kang, Postdoc, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, Mülheim an der Ruhr
  59. Jasmin Aschenbrenner, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Diamond Light Source, Didcot
  60. Serena DeBeer, Director, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, Mülheim an der Ruhr
  61. Anna Corrias, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Kent, Canterbury
  62. John Carl A. Camayang, PhD student, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, Mülheim an der Ruhr
  63. Sandie Dann, Professor in Materials Chemistry, Loughborough University, Loughborough
  64. Utkarsh Prakash, PhD Student, Max Planck Institute For Chemical Energy Conversion, Mülheim an der Ruhr
  65. Matthew George Quesne, Lecturer in Computational Chemistry, University of Leeds, Leeds
  66. Milo Shaffer, Professor of Materials Chemistry, Imperial College London, London
  67. Amalia-Sofia Piticari, Research Associate, Imperial College London, Oxford
  68. Graham Hutchings, Professor, Cardiff University, Cardiff
  69. Andrey Poletaev, Schmidt AI in Science Fellow, Imperial College, London
  70. Keith Willison, Professor, London
  71. Alexander Romanov, Senior Lecturer, University of Manchester, Manchester
  72. jason wilson, BBSRC fellow, University of sheffield, Sheffield
  73. Thomas McCorvie, Senior Research Associate, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne
  74. Anthony Green, Professor of Biological Chemistry, University of Manchester, Manchester
  75. Chris Muryn, Principal Technical Specialist, The University of Manchester, Manchester
  76. Dr Andreas Kafizas, Associate Professor in Inorganic Chemistry, Imperial College London, London
  77. Bruce Ravel, Physicist, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg MD USA
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