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Written question asked by Mary Kelly Foy (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 May 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 May 2026. It was answered by Josh MacAlister (Labour) on Tuesday, 16 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Durham University: Astronomy

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for the Institute for Computational Cosmology.

Answer

The Institute for Computational Cosmology (ICC) is in Durham University’s Department of Physics and is a leading centre in its field. The department has not made a specific assessment of funding for the Institute; however, it often receives funding from UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) through competitive funding processes. UKRI also supports key research infrastructure at the ICC, including COSMA 8, a supercomputer within the DiRAC High Performance Computing Facility. Over the last five full financial years, STFC has awarded around £26 million in grant funding to projects involving ICC-based staff.

The government also provides funding to providers, including Durham University, through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) on an annual basis to support teaching and students in higher education. This includes funding to support teaching of expensive-to-deliver subjects, such as science and engineering, and access and participation of students from under-represented groups. The total recurrent (programme) SPG funding allocation for the 2025/26 academic year is £1.31 billion.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
2841
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Finance Durham University Astronomy
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk