Science cuts will cause 'haemorrhage of talent'

Thursday, 23 September 2010 12:00 AM

By Peter Wozniak

Cuts to the government's investment in science will lead to an exodus of scientific talent, the chair of the Lords' science and technology committee has warned.

Lord Krebbs issued a dire warning to the government on the Today programme this morning, citing the opinions of six university vice-chancellors, who claim a 'brain drain' is on the way for the UK under the cuts regime.

"The global market for scientific talent is highly mobile and people go where the resources are. There are already early warning signs that even with talk of cuts... leading talent is haemorraghing, or we're failing to attract that talent", he said.

Lord Krebbs stressed that his intervention was not "special pleading" on behalf of the science community, and argued that the current level of investment was well below the UK's competitors.

"We're about the same level as Slovakia", he claimed.

A 'brain drain' was inevitable should funding be cut further, he added, and suggested it would have a knock-on effect on the economy as a whole, with leading companies which depend on science, such as pharmaceutical and medical firms, fleeing overseas if the British pool of talent shrinks.

Lord Krebbs concluded: "The government might do well to ask why other countries are choosing to increase their investment whilst we're talking about cutting."

The warning echoes calls from business leaders not to cut infrastructure funding, with public anxiety growing about the impending scope and scale of the government's austerity drive.

The spending review will be revealed on October 20th. Once the cuts move from being abstract to a political reality, a sharp dip in the coalition's popularity is expected.

Tags:
• education
,
• higher education