Brexit a major threat to research: Universities UK’s Julia Buckingham

Britain has built powerful research­ links with Europe during the past 30 years, Universities UK president Julia Buckingham says.

Universities UK president Julia Buckingham.

Brexit is a major threat to British research capacity, according to the president of Universities UK, Julia Buckingham, who spoke at Edith Cowan University last week.

In a vice-chancellor’s oration at the university, she said UK universities, and the country as a whole, had built powerful research­ links with Europe over the past 30 years, with Britain often leading the way.

“Last year UK universities secure­d £1.5bn in grant income from the EU, rather more than the £900m ($1.69bn) contribution the UK makes to the EU research pot. And that says something for our research capabilities,” said Profes­sor Buckingham, who is vice-chancellor of Brunel University.

“It is no exaggeration to say that Brexit is a major threat to the UK’s research base and that Brexit is at the top, or very near the top, of most university’s risk registers.”

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Boris Johnson is pictured at Brunel University after winning the seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in the 2015 UK election. Picture: PA

She said that, at Brunel University, about a third of research grant income came from Europe, with 15 per cent of academic staff and 18 per cent of postdoctoral researche­rs from Europe.

British universities had been making their case “firmly and repeated­ly” over the past four years for maintaining strong links with the EU.

“There is enormous goodwill between the key players in the UK and EU to find a way forward, albeit­ in a changed environment,” she said in the address at ECU, where she was invited by vice-chancellor Steve Chapman.

On the upside, Professor Buckingham said the British government’s plan to significantly boost investment in R&D was a positive sign.

In an interview with The Australian, she said British univer­sities were viewed as an integral part of the country’s strategy to drive increased productivity.

“The government’s ambition is to increase investment in R&D from our current 1.67 per cent of GDP up to 2.4 per cent by 2027. That is based on a belief and understanding that strong research­ will be translated into economic benefit,” she said.

“We expect much of the money to come from businesses through increased R&D in businesses, but also direct investment from government to increase research activities.”

This investment is expected to have a major impact on employment, with an estimated 170,000 extra research sector jobs being created. However, she acknow­ledged the uncertainty around the R&D plan due to next month’s British election.

Professor Buckingham said that as well as research ­directly linked to economic produc­tivity it was also important to invest in game-changing fundament­al research that would “enable us to take things forward in the so-called fourth industrial revolution”.

“My gut feeling is that it will be the really fundamental research, the discovery of the totally un­expected, that will transform how we do things,” Professor Buckingham said.