The Telegraph My details My newsletters Logout Upgrade to Premium My details My newsletters Logout The Telegraph How universities can help make Britain a global powerhouse of scientific innovation post-Brexit 9 March 2017 • 11:12am [science-students-lab_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqeo_i_u9APj8RuoebjoAHt0k9u7HhRJv laboratory.
 Credit: Getty In recent months, the Government has been keen to champion Britain as a nation that is "truly global".
 Other countries have clear competitive advantages to exploit in the global marketplace: the United States in technology and military capability; China as an industrial powerhouse; and Germany as a leader of European integration.
 By way of comparison, Britain seems to lack direction.
 Our manufacturing has either been decimated by automation or gone abroad, while our dependence on financial services leaves us dangerously exposed to the ups and downs of market forces.
 However, we do have a clear, but unexploited advantage: Britain can become the world leader in science and education, a role forged in the furnace of universities and research institutes up and down the country, using students as its fuel.
 Sir Isaac Newton, (1642-1727), British mathematician and physicist.
 Sir Isaac Newton, (1642-1727), British mathematician and physicist.
 Britain’s capability to lead the world in science is exemplified by our past.
 Britons made historic contributions to the foundations of modern science.
 From Isaac Newton to Rosalind Franklin, and Charles Darwin to Alan Turing, our scientific history is truly impressive.
 In a time of great uncertainty for our country, we should turn to the past for inspiration and use our history and institutions as a platform to become the global centre of science, technology and education.
 Such a role will become increasingly important in the coming decades, as a whole range of advances – artificial intelligence, robotics, and genetic engineering to name just a few – radically change societies across the world.
 Crucially, this role is independent of size; we need not compete with the industrial might of China to teach their students physics, mathematics and computer science.
 Prime Minister Theresa May.
 Prime Minister Theresa May.
 Credit: PA Wire Contrary to the beliefs of many in the scientific community, this idea is becoming increasingly common among those influencing the direction of the UK.
 Dominic Cummings, the director of Vote Leave, has written extensively about this subject on his blog.
 Theresa May herself has indicated that she wants Britain to be "a leader in science and innovation".
 As Brexit shakes up the system, the opportunity to seize this role is available.
 There are straightforward policies that could start this process.
 While the UK has significant infrastructure in place for science and education, we fail to invest and capitalize on it.
 Research in the UK is chronically underfunded: we spend under 0.
5 percent of GDP on science, compared with 0.
73 percent across the Eurozone and 0.
77 percent in the G8.
 Moreover, while the UK is a net contributor to EU budgets, the UK does particularly well out of EU research budgets.
 This source of funding is now less certain.
 As a result, without substantial increases in spending on science, we are at serious risk of being left behind.
 The 10 pillars of the Governments new industrial strategy In the recent budget, Philip Hammond finally distributed the extra science funding - £4.
7 billion over 4 years - which he had announced in the autumn statement last November.
 After consulting universities and industries on its industrial strategy, the Government pledged to focus funding research and manufacturing technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, offshore energy, nuclear power plants, and mining.
 £16 million will be used to develop a high-speed and next-generation 5G mobile network.
 Another £200 million will bolster local 'full-fibre' broadband networks.
 A grand total of £250 million will be spent on fellowships for students and scientists, with over a third of this being used to support 1000 PhDs.
 85 percent of these funds will bolster the four STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering, and maths.
 The government will also distribute an extra £50 million to attract scientists to the UK from overseas.
 However the new funding will only maintain spending as a percentage of GDP, and even with this increase we are still far behind the pack internationally.
 A concerted effort from scientists and the public alike is required to ensure funding is not only maintained but increased post-Brexit.
 Engineer assembling robotics in a factory.
 Engineer assembling robotics in a factory.
 Credit: Alamy Such funding is unlikely to be wasted.
 It is a remarkable testament to our scientists that, despite the current funding shortage, the UK has strong foundations in science research.
 Although we only have around three percent of global funding for research, the UK produces over 15% of the most highly cited papers in the world.
 We have elite higher education institutions too.
 In most international university rankings, the UK has multiple entries in the top 20, backed up by an extraordinary depth of excellent institutions across the country.
 Moreover, from the Francis Crick Institute in London, to the Diamond Light Source particle accelerator in Oxford, there are exciting projects already underway in the UK.
 These are projects that should be expanded and replicated in other fields and regions across the country.
 Previous large scale investments have yielded astounding returns.
 Although returns are hard to precisely quantify, it is estimated that for every dollar invested in NASA, the US economy is boosted by between $7 and $12.
 In the case of the Human Genome Project, estimates go as high as $65 dollars.
 The new Francis Crick Institute building in London, 2016.
 The new Francis Crick Institute building in London, 2016.
 Credit: AFP But the benefits are not simply monetary.
 Scientific investment produces innovations that materially improve human well-being.
 From mobile phone cameras and water filters produced by NASA research, to genetic sequencing for disease screening and discovering new drug targets, public investment in science is an overwhelming force for good.
 Where else can governments invest and achieve such returns?
 The past decade has all too painfully exposed the flaws in over-dependence on our financial sector.
 With the Brexit negotiations posing its own series of challenges, it is fast becoming clear that we must evolve as a country.
 We should view this as an opportunity to invest wisely and finally capitalise on our strength in science and higher education.
 The referendum has sent other changes down the tracks, most notably in immigration policy.
 The ability of foreign scientists and students to come to the UK to contribute and learn from our system is crucial to its success.
 In my experience of research, I’ve worked with scientists from across Europe, America and Asia, who bring unique skills that would be near impossible to replace.
 These people contribute to our economy – whether through research, start-ups or providing a pool of highly skilled talent for our businesses.
 Scientists and biomedical researchers working at the Francis Crick Institute.
 Scientists and biomedical researchers working at the Francis Crick Institute.
 Credit: Getty Images Many scientists are considering leaving the UK after Brexit.
 As shown academics” to make the trip across the channel, other countries are welcoming them with open arms.
 In order to address these Brexit-related challenges, future immigration policy should focus on attracting more of the brightest and best from around the world.
 We should also make those already here feel more welcome.
 Importantly, while much of the current narrative is anti-immigration, public opinion on immigration for students and scientists is typically more favourable.
 The advantages of capturing the next generation of world-leading talent - driving innovation, discovering new medical advances, providing skills in increasingly important fields like computer science and physics - are clear, and the public understand that.
 Our university system provides the ideal framework to achieve this by attracting students and scientists to settle in the UK.
 Unlike other immigrants, these students often pay into the university system rather than coming to work.
 The government can use this to showcase its desire to become a global Britain by removing students from immigration figures and allowing universities the flexibility to bring talented students to the UK.
 Policy-makers should also learn from other fields where decisive action is being taken to adapt to a changing landscape by focusing on the next generation.
 The intelligence services, for example, are converting the wartime intelligence hub Bletchley Park into a factory for coding-whizzes.
 This is a model that could be replicated for other fields like medical research, physics and mathematics.
 These focused centres, spread across the country at exceptional university departments, would exceed any other system in the world.
 The Google logo on a laptop screen.
 Credit: Yui Mok However, if we are to see the fruits of these endeavors, we must also convert investment in basic science into new companies.
 A recent example is that of DeepMind, the machine learning start-up by theoretical Neuroscience PhD students, bought out by Google for hundreds of millions of pounds, and now taking the machine learning field by storm.
 DeepMind provides an example of our most powerful weapon: students themselves.
 We produce more science graduates and PhD students than there are academic positions to fill, yielding a surplus of highly talented people without a clear path to take.
 While the investment by Google was exceptional, government could play a similar role in backing students to chase high risk, high gain opportunities that typical market structures do not support.
 Further support could come by introducing tax breaks to start-ups capitalizing on recent scientific advances, ensuring they stay and drive economic growth.
 On this front, Brexit may provide us with a competitive advantage.
 Recent select committees in both the House of Lords and the House of Commons have concluded that EU regulations hamper the process of technology transfer, particularly in the life sciences.
 Taking the opportunity to increase entrepreneurship would translate our science success more directly into a key driver of the economy, all the while capturing the talents of academics who would otherwise be forced into other fields.
 Furthermore, it would harness the ambition of young people in our universities, from both home and abroad, and maximize returns from government investment in science.
 Such steps would also increase the allure of further study, creating a virtuous cycle in which our best minds are attracted to fundamental research and contribute much more to the economy than would otherwise be possible.
 To date, the economic catastrophe predicted before the referendum has yet to materialize, providing government with the flexibility required to sculpt our future.
 Global Britain should capture the talents of our students and the allure of our higher education and scientific institutions to ensure Britain is the birthplace of the scientific and technological revolutions to come.
 It remains to be seen whether this government will forge this new role for Britain after Brexit, but our universities are our most powerful tool to do so.
 Matthew Phillips is a neuroscience PhD student at University College London (UCL).
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