The EU is central to the efforts of European research to compete with the US colossus, as demonstrated by the European nation consortium funded "Large Hadron Collider [ project] the world's largest and most powerful particle collider, the largest, most complex experimental facility ever built, and the largest single machine in the world... built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008 in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over 100 countries, as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories". CERN was also where Tim Berners Lee developed the World Wide Web. Also significant is the absolute determination represented by a single college at Cambridge, Trinity, building the Cambridge Science Park, with its magnificent landscaping, part of efforts in different countries to learn from the achievement of Silicon Valley and its historic, geographical and social connection with Stanford, a synergy central to shaping 21st century global modernity and beyond.
British universities have already cried out about decreased attractiveness of their universities on account of stifling immigration laws and the economic, educational and cultural implications of that development. Last year Carolyn Van Eck was appointed to the university's first established chair in the History of Art, all the way from the Leiden University in the Netherlands, after she led a very successful research project at her old university, with Oxford also appointing her at the same time to the prestigious Slade professorship . Two of this year's Humanitas visiting professors have been from Europe, Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland, who provided invaluable perspectives on the welfare state and global peacekeeping and Wim Pijbes, General Director of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, holding lectures in dialogue with some of the most prominent figures in the English museum world. It is such intra-European flows Cambridge and Oxford might need to combat migration to places like Harvard by some of its top tier staff, like Nobel Prize winner in Economics Amartya Kumar Sen who left from mastership of Trinity, one of the most prestigious appointments in England, Cambridge college mastership being represented among others, by such figures as Rowan Williams, the former head of the Church of England and Richard Dearlove, former head of M16, a move also made by James Watson after his discovery of the helical structure of DNA, and even before the award to Crick and himself of the practically inevitable Nobel Prize for '"discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material" . The Brexit move will not be sweet news at the university.
Statement from the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge on the result of the EU Referendum
We recognise that there is a great deal of uncertainty around the decision to leave the European Union. We would like to reassure our staff that a University working group has met this afternoon following the referendum result and various work streams are underway looking at staff, students, post docs, partnerships and nationality issues. I would like to stress again that, even though the result is in favour of leaving the European Union, there is no immediate change to the University's teaching, research and other activities. We will continue to work as normal.
It is not currently known what the impact of leaving the EU will have on UK policy on higher education tuition fees, loans and bursaries. However, the University can confirm that undergraduate EU students who are already studying at Cambridge, who have an offer to study at Cambridge, or who apply in 2016 to start their studies in 2017, will continue to be charged the UK fee rate applicable at the time, provided this continues to be permitted by UK law. Please note that the UK fee rate may be subject to increases, which may be annual.
The University will work with the Government to ensure it takes steps to ensure that staff and students from the EU can continue to work and study in this country. Cambridge thrives as part of a wide international community of academic staff and students, and we remain deeply committed to global cooperation and our dedicated staff who come from all over the world.
As I said this morning, there is work underway to consider how best to communicate internal developments with specific members of the University. Further information will be available next week on the University's website.
You may also be interested to read University UK's latest statement on the referendum result:
"Leaving the EU will create significant challenges for universities. Although this is not an outcome that we wished or campaigned for, we respect the decision of the UK electorate. We should remember that leaving the EU will not happen overnight, there will be a gradual exit process with significant opportunities to seek assurances and influence future policy.
"Throughout the transition period our focus will be on securing support that allows our universities to continue to be global in their outlook, internationally networked and an attractive destination for talented people from across Europe. These features are central to ensuring that British universities continue to be the best in the world.
"Our first priority will be to convince the UK Government to takes steps to ensure that staff and students from EU countries can continue to work and study at British universities and to promote the UK as a welcoming destination for the brightest and best minds. They make a powerful contribution to university research and teaching and have a positive impact on the British economy and society. We will also prioritise securing opportunities for our researchers and students to access vital pan-European programmes and build new global networks."
Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz
Earlier statement:
"We note this result with disappointment. My position on this issue is well known, but 52 per cent of voters in the referendum disagreed. We will work with our partners in business, research and academia, as well as our European partners and the government, to understand the implications of this outcome."
Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz
Sir Leszek Krzysztof Borysiewicz FRS FRCP FMedSci FLSW (born 13 April 1951) is a Polish-Welsh immunologist and scientific administrator.
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