By Will Charley, Deputy Editor
Bristol University's vice-chancellor warned that Brexit may damage research, but would not reduce international admissions
Professor Hugh Brady warned of the effects of Brexit and stated that "what we fear most" is a no-deal exit from the EU.
Speaking in Ireland last week about Brexit and its effect on higher education, Professor Brady dismissed the notion that fewer international students would apply to the University as a result.
Brady suggested for many Asian international students, “Brexit is but a trivial, amusing and poorly understood local squabble among former colonists." The vice-chancellor then went on to joke that “the fall in the value of the sterling has made a top class UK education much more affordable to international students!”
However, when speaking about the wider effects of Brexit on British universities, Professor Brady hinted that this would inevitably be bad news.
Whilst British universities currently receive more funding than they contribute from European research bodies, Professor Brady speculated that “it is highly unlikely that the remaining 27 countries will allow the UK to win multiples of what it puts in.”
Even if the British Government was to reach a deal with the EU that allowed Britain to fully associate with Horizon Europe- an EU scientific research initiative- it would be a “poor second best to the current arrangement”, Brady claimed.
The vice-chancellor spoke of a no-deal Brexit- now looking likely following announcements made my Number 10 on Tuesday- as “what we fear most”, saying it would “undoubtedly lead” to costly uncertainty.
Despite these concerns, Professor Brady did also recognise the preventative measures being put in place by the UK Government, calling them “a sticking plaster”.
Professor Brady argued that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and senior advisor Dominic Cummings have been “some of the biggest advocates for higher education investment and research”. He also reaffirmed that the UK Government will “fully fund any awards that are interrupted in a no-deal scenario”, but that this would only be a “stop-gap”.
Rob Porter, President of the Bristol University Conservative Association responded to Professor Hugh Brady's worries, telling Epigram that:
"Whilst we understand Hugh Brady’s concern over no-deal, it is vital that it remain on the negotiating table. Anything less undermines the UK’s position to achieve a positive deal which will safeguard funding for research and our universities.
"Given that five of the top universities in the world are located in the UK, and none in the EU, [university research] is an obvious area of collaboration."
Featured image: Epigram / Will Charley
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