Brain drain? Think again

The week began with the news that physicist Neil Turok is leaving Cambridge for the new Perimeter Institute in Canada, sparking fears from some quarters that other UK scientists will follow his example.

Should we be worried? Science is, has been (and always will be), a global endeavour. The whole idea of a 'brain drain' siphoning knowledge from one nation state to another sounds like an anachronism in the age of the Internet and globalisation.

UK science can surely attribute much of its current vitality to its international networks and collaborations which lead to researchers at all levels moving back and forth.

But that doesn't mean, of course, that top international universities like Oxford and Cambridge aren't concerned with attracting and retaining the best scientists. It's one of the prime motivations behind Oxford's £1.25bn fund-raising campaign, launched this week.

At the launch the treasures of the Bodleian may have dazzled, but for scientists it's the future intellectual treasures the additional funds will bring that shine: many of the new academic positions will be used to attract even more world-class researchers, the money will make new developments such as the Institute of Cancer Medicine and the new Mathematical Institute possible.

It's what makes this such an exciting time to be reporting on science at Oxford: far from any kind of draining away everyone is preparing the ground for a flood of new infrastructure, new people and new ideas. It promises to raise the visibility of Oxford science to a point where its quality will be impossible to ignore.

Illustration of the new Institute of Cancer Medicine.

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