Jodrell Bank saved

Jul 9 2008

JODRELL Bank has been saved thanks to a new agreement between the funding council and the cutting edge Cheshire facility.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council had planned to cut crucial funding plunging the future of the country's most famous obeservatory into doubt.

The Daily Post revealed last week revealed that STFC had given scientists some hope by pledging money towards the running costs. However, more cash was needed to guarantee its future survival.

An agreement reached this week will ensure that the full £2.5 annual operating costs for the next two years.

The long term future of Jodrell Bank has also been secured by the commitment of the STFC to invest in the development of the next generation facility in radio astronomy, the Square Kilometre Array.

This is being led by The University of Manchester at the Cheshire site, working with Oxford and Cambridge universities.