Europe Cannot Afford to Lose Its Best Scientists Say 42 Nobel Laureates and 5 Fields Medallists. (October 27, 2012)

Is it any less true for Australia?

The letter below was printed in the October 23, 2012 issue of the Financial Times

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Sir,

It is often said that every crisis also presents an opportunity. The current crisis forces us to make choices, and one of those choices is about science and its support. Back in 2000, the European Union heads of state and government set themselves the target of becoming the “world’s most dynamic knowledge-based economy by 2010”. The intention was ambitious and noble, but the goal has yet to be achieved. Science can help us find answers to many of the pressing problems facing us at this time: new ways to harness energy, new forms of production and products, improved ways to understand how societies function and how we might order them better. We are just at the start of a revolutionary new understanding of how our own bodies work with incalculable consequences for our future health and longevity. Europe is at the forefront of science in many areas. Transforming this knowledge into innovative new products, services and industries is the only way to provide Europe with a competitive edge in today’s rapidly changing global landscape and to ensure Europe’s long­-term future prosperity.

Knowledge knows no boundaries. The global market for outstanding talent is highly competitive. Europe can ill afford to lose its best researchers and teachers, and would gain greatly by attracting foreign talent. Reducing the funding available for excellent research means a smaller number of trained researchers. In the case of a severe reduction in the EU research and innovation budget we risk losing a generation of talented scientists just when Europe needs them most. In this regard, the European Research Council has achieved global recognition in a remarkably short time. It funds the best researchers anywhere in Europe regardless of nationality: excellent people, excellent projects. It valuably complements national funding of fundamental research.

Funding research at EU level is a catalyst for making better use of the resources we have and for making national budgets more efficient and effective. These EU resources are extremely precious. They have proven to be capable of achieving essential benefits for European science as well as increasing returns to society and raising international competitiveness. It is essential that we support, and even more importantly, inspire in a pan­-European way the extraordinary wealth of research and innovation potential that exists all over Europe. We are convinced that the younger generation of researchers will also make its voice heard – and governments should listen to what they have to say.

Our question to the heads of state and government, meeting in Brussels on November 22-23 to discuss the EU budget for 2014-20, is a simple one: when the deal for Europe’s future budget is announced, what will be the role of science in Europe’s future?

Nobel Laureates:

Tim Hunt, Medicine 2001

Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Medicine 1995

Sidney Altman, Chemistry 1989

Werner Arber, Medicine 1978

Robert J. Aumann, Economics 2005

Francoise Barré-Sinoussi, Medicine 2008

Günter Blobel, Medicine 1999

Mario Capecchi, Medicine 2007

Aaron Ciechanover, Chemistry 2004

Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Physics 1997

Johann Deisenhofer, Chemistry 1988

Richard R. Ernst, Chemistry 1991

Gerhart Ertl, Chemistry 2007

Martin Evans, Medicine 2007

Albert Fert, Physics 2007

Andre Geim, Physics 2010

Serge Haroche, Physics 2012

Avram Hershko, Chemistry 2004

Jules A. Hoffmann, Medicine 2011

Roald Hoffmann, Chemistry 1981

Robert Huber, Chemistry 1988

Eric R. Kandel, Medicine 2000

Klaus von Klitzing, Physics 1985

Harold Kroto, Chemistry 1996

Finn Kydland, Economics 2004

Jean-Marie Lehn, Chemistry 1987

Eric S. Maskin, Economics 2007

Dale T. Mortensen, Economics 2010

Erwin Neher, Medicine 1991

Konstantin Novoselov, Physics 2010

Paul Nurse, Medicine 2001

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Chemistry 2009

Richard J. Roberts, Medicine 1993

Heinrich Rohrer, Physics 1986

Bert Sakmann, Medicine 1991

Bengt I. Samuelsson, Medicine 1982

John E. Sulston, Medicine 2002

Jack W. Szostak, Medicine 2009

John E. Walker, Chemistry 1997

Ada E. Yonath, Chemistry 2009

Rolf Zinkernagel, Medicine 1996

Harald zur Hausen, Medicine 2008

Fields Medal:

Pierre Deligne, 1978

Timothy Gowers, 1988

Maxim Kontsevich, 1998

Stanislav Smirnov, 2010

Cedric Villani, 2010