Brexit and the audit culture threaten to drive young talent away from UK universities, says the former Royal Society president.
Using the Daily Mail’s vocabulary, I’m an unrepentant remoaner and saboteur. We’re on a trajectory that irreversibly weakens Europe, and may break up the UK. Even if a Brexit deal is negotiated, it’s likely to leave many Brexiteers dissatisfied, and consequently be perceived by a UK majority as worse than the status quo.
For me, the science-linked arguments against Brexit are trumped by the broader concerns that it will jeopardise Europe’s ability to act as a counterweight to balance the United States, Russia and China. But scientists, of course, have special professional concerns about Brexit. They are highly mobile. Many have chosen to make their lives here, in the expectation that their family and contacts will enjoy the benefits of free movement. Chancellor Philip Hammond has assured bankers of post-Brexit concessions, but no comfort has been offered to other industries.
Under the coalition government, there were clear tensions between Vince Cable and David Willetts in the business department, who were mindful of the need for an international flow of talent, and the Home Office, where the priority was to cut net immigration. This ambiguity generated the perception that the UK was no longer welcoming. Since moving from the Home Office to 10 Downing Street, Theresa May’s hewing to a hard line on immigration has done nothing to change this.
My Cambridge college has a strong cohort of EU students, many from Hungary, Poland and other nations with a strong academic tradition. They see themselves as Europeans with a shared culture. They hope our continent can be a progressive force in a turbulent and multipolar world, where we face challenges that can’t be tackled on a national level. We’re surely right to welcome these people, in their own interests and those of Europe.
Some Brexiteers argue that we should be focusing our efforts on the world beyond Europe. But EU membership has strengthened our global links. An ambitious young person from Asia will be less attracted to the UK if we are no longer part of an integrated European community.
There is, at least, a consensus on one thing: the imperative to sustain and strengthen UK science and technology. “If we don’t get smarter we’ll get poorer” is a mantra to which all factions would subscribe.
And yet even without Brexit, we would have reason to be anxious about UK research. Traditionally, universities have enabled staff to pursue research topics of their own choosing in return for teaching. This compact has manifestly paid off in the leading US and UK universities. But it’s at risk.
I don’t envy the lives and prospects of young academics. There’s reason to worry not only about attracting foreign expertise, but about whether research offers an attractive career to the next generation of UK talent.
Academia must attract not just nerds like myself, but a proportion of ambitious young people with versatile talent—those who aspire to achieve individual success in their early 30s. The demography of academia is unfavourable to the rapid promotion of young talent, but it’s the ever more pervasive audit culture that’s the real disincentive. The best value for money is achieved by enabling committed and talented individuals to back their own judgement.
That’s why the UK is scoring a further own goal by enacting a higher education and research bill that aggravates the audit culture and demands a needlessly drastic reorganisation of research. These changes are a distraction at a time when the civil service is overstretched by Brexit, and when higher education is beginning a transformation in which the importance of mature students, part-time courses and distance learning will surely grow.
Martin Rees is the astronomer royal and a former president of the Royal Society.
This article also appeared in Research Fortnight‘s 500th issue, guest edited by Andre Geim.