Birmingham graduate Paul Nurse fears funding crisis for the sciences
Feb 12 2010 By Catherine Lillington
“All countries are suffering and, although I do think we could spend more money here and improve working conditions, I don’t think there will be a serious brain drain. Britain is very good at doing science.”
Unions have warned more than 15,000 university posts could be axed across the country as a result of cuts.
But university bosses said they would not know how they would be affected until details of the funding cuts for each university were announced next month.
The University of Warwick said it had already cut budgets by five per cent, around £15 million, over the past year. This had been achieved by asking departments to suggest savings and the university had avoided closing any courses, said spokesman Peter Dunn.
But Mr Dunn warned that all universities could be forced to make further cuts in years to come.
He said: “As well as the £449 million that has already been announced, there is talk of cuts of £600 million over the next few years.
“And the parties are competing with each other over who will cut funding more. You don’t seem to hear anyone speaking up for the university sector. But in America, they are boosting university funding.
“What they seem to understand over there is that universities are one of the drivers of economic recovery.
“They improve skills and bring in students from overseas, who boost the economy. Universities are one of the few remaining jewels in the UK crown.”
Sir Paul Nurse, who was ranked as eighth in a national newspaper’s top ten list of the most influential Britons in America, spoke about his own work during his visit to Thinktank.
He said: “When you’re doing it you never actually think you’re doing anything that important because it always goes slowly,” he said.
“You never quite know what the impact will be. At the time you don’t quite realise the significance because you’re just getting on with it. I was working on this problem for which I got the Nobel Prize for about 15 years.
"But looking back on it you realise there are real advances and it’s just easier to see it.”
