Written evidence submitted by the University of Portsmouth (LEA0251)

 

 

Executive summary

 

  1. This submission identifies several risks to science and technology that are expected to arise as a result of Brexit. Principally, they relate to access to research funding, and the ability to recruit high-quality staff and students.

 

  1. As the benefits of research collaboration are mutual we think there is a shared interest in separating discussions about UK universities’ access to EU research funding and collaboration from discussions about other Brexit issues.

 

  1. If this does not occur, the UK government should take steps to mitigate Brexit risks. The UK government could create new global opportunities for UK science and research, in particular for the fundamental sciences (e.g., astronomy).

 

  1. Some of the best universities in the world are outside the EU. If the UK government funded global programmes for student and staff exchanges, as well as global research collaborations, even better research and knowledge production might result than through schemes that are limited to universities in the EU.

 

  1. But any negative effects of Brexit would be magnified if, at the same time as losing access to EU research funds and collaborations, the UK government made it more difficult to recruit international staff and students and offered no support for global research collaborations.

 

About the University of Portsmouth

 

  1. The University of Portsmouth is one of the top 50 universities in the UK and is one of the top 150 world universities under 50 years of age.

 

  1. The University has many centres of excellence in science and technology research – in particular the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, the Institute of Biomedical and Bio-molecular Sciences and the Centre for Operational Research and Logistics.

 

  1. The University produces many high-quality science and technology graduates which are essential to the UK economy.

 

  1. The University is one of the largest economic actors in Portsmouth and the Solent region. The University employs 2500 full-time equivalent staff; its annual economic impact in the Portsmouth area is over £300 million.

 

  1. The University has over 22000 students of which 800 (4%) are EU undergraduates and 2000 (11%) are international undergraduates. There are also 1200 post-graduate EU or international students.

 

Brexit

 

General points

 

  1. UK universities are economically important both because of their effects on their regional economies and because of their role in knowledge production, research, innovation and the production of highly-skilled graduates.

 

  1. Given the high-quality and world-renown of UK universities, they are attractive to EU and international students. This offers the UK a valuable form of soft power, in particular through the influence of graduates when they return to their home country.

 

  1. Cross-border collaboration and research is essential to the UK universities’ science and technology research – as is the ability to recruit and retain the highest-quality staff.

 

Research

 

  1. The University welcomes the government’s recent announcement that it will safeguard EU research and structural investment funding until 2020. This has brought much desired confidence and certainty to the University and our staff. For instance, the University’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation currently has two large European Research Council grants that run to 2019 and 2020 respectively. The government announcement offers these projects, and the staff employed on them, valuable assurances about their research.

 

  1. Given the importance of collaboration and research networks to research and innovation, the University believes that the UK and the EU have strong mutual interests in treating discussions about UK universities’ access to EU research funding as separate and distinct from other Brexit issues.

 

  1. The University also believes that should UK universities’ access to EU research funding, the Erasmus Scheme etc. be reduced, the UK government has a strong self-interest in creating schemes of global research collaboration to replace it.

 

  1. A global Erasmus-style scheme enabling student and staff exchanges would constitute a valuable form of soft power for the UK that would lead to long term benefits; it would also enable the UK to continue to be a world-leader in science and technology.

 

  1. The university welcomes the £1.5 billion Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) for cutting-edge research. We note that GCRF’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) link makes it very hard for fundamental sciences like astronomy – in which the UK and the University of Portsmouth are world-leaders – to access these funds. As we reasonably expect that UK universities’ access to research funding will decline as a result of Brexit we strongly recommend that the UK create a fund similar to the GCRF for the fundamental sciences.  Once lost, a world-leading position is very hard to regain.

 

  1. In addition, the University of Portsmouth’s experience is that EU structural investment funding is valuable for applied research, knowledge transfer programmes, and regional employment.

 

  1. In 2014/15 while the UK received £1.67 billion in European Regional Development and Social Funding (ERDF and ESF) this represented only 29% of the UK’s contribution.

 

  1. In light of this, the University of Portsmouth judges that a UK scheme to replace lost EU structural investment funding is desirable and financially feasible.

 

Staff

 

  1. Being able to recruit science and technology staff internationally is essential if UK universities are to maintain their reputations.

 

  1. The University of Portsmouth’s operating assumption is that, post-Brexit, immigration rules will make it no more difficult to recruit high-quality EU staff than is currently the case with regard to high-quality international staff. We believe that the University could operate successfully in such an environment.

 

  1. However, significant problems would arise if, in addition to Brexit-related problems, it became more difficult to recruit international staff. Greater difficulty recruiting international staff would create negative effects for UK universities’ science and technology research. Our global competitors would be pleased if UK universities found it more difficult to recruit high-quality international staff.

 

Students

 

  1. The University expects that when EU students lose access to tuition fee loans the number of EU students applying to study in the UK will fall. As a result the University plans to recruit more home students. But in an increasingly competitive HE sector, and where the number of home 18-20 year olds is falling, the University also plans to increase international student recruitment.

 

  1. International students at under-graduate and post-graduate level aid the development of international research networks and improve the quality of UK-produced research. International students also offer the UK a valuable way to develop its soft power.

 

  1. The general public has a positive view of international students at UK universities. International students are generally young so they do not impose burdens on public services. International students do not qualify for tuition fee finance, they pay higher fees and spend more per person in the local economy than do home students. In short, international students are a net economic benefit to the UK.

 

  1. Any tightening of the rules on international student recruitment would also have a deleterious effect on our reputation overseas and would make it impossible for the UK government to achieve its stated aim of increasing the value of education exports to £30 billion by 2020.

 

  1. Any tightening of the rules on international student recruitment would weaken UK universities’ ability to mitigate some of the expected negative effects of Brexit.

 

Conclusion

 

  1. It is no secret that the university sector favoured the UK remaining in the EU. However, the University of Portsmouth is confident that if the UK government and UK universities respond creatively to the risks created by Brexit many new opportunities will arise.

 

  1. Government support for global research collaboration and exchanges, in particular for the fundamental sciences, and a flexible approach to international student recruitment would address some of the main risks Brexit creates. If these occur, UK universities will be able to maintain their world class reputations.

 

August 2016