Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Science and Technology Facilities Council is an independent, non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS). They are a science-driven organisation, making it possible for a broad range of scientists to do the highest quality research tackling some of the most fundamental scientific questions. They do this by funding researchers in universities directly through grants particularly in astronomy, particle physics, space science and nuclear physics.
They provide access to world-class facilities overseas, including through CERN, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) and telescope facilities in Chile, Hawaii, La Palma, Australia and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, which includes the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory. The STFC was formed as a new Research Council on 1 April 2007 through a merger of the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) and the transfer of responsibility for nuclear physics from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
For more information, please visit http://www.scitech.ac.uk