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The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has today (31st July) published its Annual Report and Accounts 2008-2009.

The report outlines a year of significant scientific and technological achievement and selected highlights of the many economic and societal benefits resulting from STFC’s wide array of research disciplines.

The report also sets out STFC’s progress on further developing its vision, strategy and overall programme.

Professor Keith Mason, STFC’s Chief Executive, said, “Our new vision is to maximise the impact of our knowledge, skills, facilities and resources for the benefit of the UK and its people. Over the last year we have delivered some truly exciting science and have laid the groundwork for many more groundbreaking achievements. We are looking forward with confidence and are well placed to keep UK science at the cutting edge and contribute to the UK’s economic recovery and growth.”

Some of the research and achievements highlighted in the report include: the successful switch on of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN; the development of new technologies benefiting industry and society by STFC spin-out companies; the building of the VISTA telescope by a UK consortium, led by Queen Mary University, and managed by STFC’s UK Astronomy Technology Centre; the successful commissioning of a new £145 million Second Target Station at the STFC’s world-leading ISIS neutron source and the use of STFC’s Central Laser Facility (CLF) to take ‘snapshots’ – lasting one million, millionth of a second – to reveal the inner workings of plants to understand how photosynthesis works and learn how to develop cheaper solar power and enable the production of hydrogen as an alternative fuel.

The past year has also seen the start of some important new partnerships including the public-private partnership between STFC, UKAEA and Goodman, to develop the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus (HSIC). The 20-year joint venture is expected to create some 5000 knowledge–based jobs. The European Space Agency (ESA) has also just opened its first UK centre at HSIC in summer 2009 and it is expected that this, along with STFC’s own expertise in the field of space science and technology, will attract other aerospace companies to the campus.

August 2008 saw the closure of the Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS) at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory. The world’s first second-generation synchrotron, SRS operated for 28 years and produced two million hours of science. Since 1980 it has played a key role in enabling and performing cutting edge research in many areas of UK and international science. Cleaner fuel, safer aircraft and new medicines, not to mention a Nobel Prize are amongst the many things that have been influenced or made possible by world leading scientific research carried out at SRS.

A study of the impact over the lifetime of the SRS showed that it has provided significant economic benefits, worth far more than the initial investment. This impact has not only been through its excellent scientific output but via the generation of highly skilled people, commercialisation of SRS technology, work with and for industry and the attraction of external investment to the SRS and Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus. The new Diamond Light Source at Harwell will continue the groundbreaking work of SRS and keep the UK at the forefront of synchrotron light research.

The report can be downloaded as a PDF from the STFC website.
Annual report PDF: http://www.stfc.ac.uk/annualreport 
Highlights PDF: http://www.stfc.ac.uk/highlights 

Contacts
Julia Short
Press Officer
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Tel: +44 (0)1793 442 012
Email: Julia.short@stfc.ac.uk 

Julia Maddock MInstP MInstPR
Manager External Communications
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Tel+ 44 1793 44 2094
Email: julia.maddock@stfc.ac.uk 

Science and Technology Facilities Council

The Science and Technology Facilities Council ensures the UK retains its leading place on the world stage by delivering world-class science; accessing and hosting international facilities; developing innovative technologies; and increasing the socio-economic impact of its research through effective knowledge exchange.

The Council has a broad science portfolio including Astronomy, Particle Physics, Particle Astrophysics, Nuclear Physics, Space Science, Synchrotron Radiation, Neutron Sources and High Power Lasers. In addition the Council manages and operates three internationally renowned laboratories:
• The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire
• The Daresbury Laboratory, Cheshire
• The UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Edinburgh

The Council gives researchers access to world-class facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), the Institute Laue Langevin (ILL), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the European organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) and the European Space Agency (ESA). It also funds UK telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, which includes the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory.
The Council distributes public money from the Government to support scientific research.

The Council is a partner in the UK space programme, coordinated by the British National Space Centre.