The body overseeing UK astronomy and physics is to commission an independent review of its operations.The probe into the effectiveness of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) follows widespread concern over the status of its budget.
The council says its settlement from government has left it no choice but to find �80m of savings through to 2011.
This puts at risk a number of current science projects and the recent growth in research grants.
An assessment of where the STFC's yearly half-a-billion-pound budget should be focussed is currently under way and will be published next month.
Disciplines such as solar-terrestrial physics, which studies the connection between the Sun and Earth, fear they will be subjected to major cuts.
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