Talented people are the one thing we are competing for. Anywhere can have lab space; what matters most are the people there. The scientific research and development community is concerned that the country’s current policy is hurting its ability to attract and retain talent. Technology entrepreneur Ewan Kirk addressed these concerns.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled a plan in 2023 to bring “every part of government together” in order to solidify the UK’s position as a global leader in science and technology by 2030.
Kirk, a non-executive director at BAE Systems, chair of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, and current entrepreneur in residence at the University of Cambridge, thinks the present state of affairs is completely false.
Having previously selected top international STEM talent for Goldman Sachs and then Cantab Capital Partners, the “geekiest” hedge fund in the world, from the Cambridge graduate pool, he has firsthand experience with the long-term benefits of encouraging individuals to study in the UK at a young age.
“It’s actually much harder for us to bring in the brightest and best when they’re 40 years old and they have a career, a family and a mortgage,” explained Kirk of the current points-based immigration program. Kirk is advocating for a change in the government’s current immigration policies, which he considers to be “unwelcoming” and counterproductive to the nation’s strategic objective of luring scientists.
“We can make it much simpler for candidates to select the UK if we want to be a science superpower. To guarantee that STEM graduates’ skills are retained in the UK economy for a long time, we should grant them a 10-year visa rather than a two-year one after graduation.
Spanning over a decade in power, the Conservative government has repeatedly targeted a reduction in net migration, with international students being included in the numbers. This has occurred even though domestic students’ higher education is currently funded by international students.
Significant changes in admissions brought about by anti-immigration policies have resulted in significant fluctuations in student enrollment at British universities, with a growing number of them citing financial difficulties.
Students pursuing PhDs, research, and government sponsorship are currently exempt from the ban on dependents and are permitted to bring family members with them while they are in the country.
Kirk refers to the current friction that influences student decision-making as “bad policy making” and points to the slight increases in the NHS surcharge and visa processing fees as examples.
We face the threat of losing both our competitiveness as a scientific power and our status as the premier location for worldwide research and study. The sooner the government amends the new immigration laws, the better, as immigration is essential to achieving that goal.