Science and technology facilities are those that provide the infrastructure for scientific research and development. They include laboratories, observatories, data archive centers, particle accelerators and other large-scale research facilities. The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is a British organization that funds, builds and operates many of these facilities on behalf of the UK government.
The STFC was formed in 2007 from a merger of two previous councils: the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) and the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC). It is one of seven research councils supported by the UK government’s Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS). The STFC has an annual budget of £664 million (US$1.03 billion), making it the UK’s third largest public funder of science after the Wellcome Trust and UniversitiesUK.
The STFC supports a wide range of scientific disciplines including astronomy, astrophysics, particle physics, nuclear physics, space science, materials science and engineering. It also funds UK membership of international organizations such as CERN, ESA and ESO.
The council operates or hosts numerous world-class facilities including:
* The Diamond Light Source – A synchrotron radiation facility near Oxford which produces intense beams of x-rays for use in materials science experiments
* The ISIS neutron source – A nuclear reactor at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory which is used to study the structure of matter using neutron scattering
* The Jodrell Bank Observatory – A radio astronomy facility in Cheshire which houses several large radio telescopes
* RAL Space – A space research group based at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory which designs & builds spacecraft instruments & carries out microgravity experiments on behalf of NASA & ESA