Cuts to ANU Physics

Research funding shortfall triggers 25% cut to ANU physics department

Australian universities were hit particularly hard by covid: A large proportion of their research funding came from international student fees, and international student numbers plummeted due to the border closure.

 

Budget cuts forced the Australian National University's physics department to cut 25% of its staff and merge its ten departments into five. 

 

As a graduate of ANU physics this is sad to see; nowhere else in Australia could one find such a breadth of expertise. Breadth is important because undergraduates often have no idea in which area they will end up specialising. For example, a bad experience with an optics lab in high school made me swear off anything to do with optics and photonics in university; I even skipped the (recommended) 2nd year optics course. My mind was changed by a 3rd year research project which showed me how the subject had plenty of interesting theoretical and numerical problems for a theorist.

It is appalling that funding agencies would rather dole out money for new buildings than pay salaries for those working inside. For context, ANU physics has just finished the construction of a new building. ANU has also carried out extensive redevelopments of the campus since I graduated, with several examples of old but functional or quite new buildings being demolished to make way for redevelopment.