STFC Future Underground Dark Matter Science Experiments

Funding for projects concerning dark matter science to be undertaken at the new underground research facility at the STFC Boulby Underground Laboratory.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has announced the Future Underground Dark Matter Science Experiments scheme for funding to deliver dark matter science projects at the new UK underground research facility – the STFC Boulby Underground Laboratory in North Yorkshire. It is anticipated that projects will span design, installation, commissioning and operation phases. Projects must:

• Align with the recommendations of the Dark Matter Strategic Review 2020 and address the definition of dark matter.
• Align with the current capacity and capability of the Boulby Underground Laboratory.
• Present cases that have confirmed feasibility and viability for deployment within Boulby Underground Laboratory.
• Provide short to medium-term scientific return.

Medium scale science projects are anticipated to start in spring 2025 and will exploit the Boulby Underground Laboratory facilities to design and deploy an experimental set up to directly detect dark matter signals.

The funding opportunity will encompass experimental approaches that can be broadly split into the complementary routes of direct searches for particulate (eg WIMP-like) dark matter and direct searches for wave-like hidden sector dark matter.