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Scottish Universities have been put on
high-alert following an influential Massachusetts Institute of
Technology report warning the Trump political regime - spearheaded by
Musk's DOGE - is "dismantling" scientific leadership with global
ramifications the outcome.
Scotland's science and technology-based partnership-based expertise is
world renowned in terms of international collaborative work that knows
no bounds. None more so than both sides of the Pond with combined R&D
success responsible for innumerable groundbreaking developments.
Now however, following the current US administration's repressive regime
the threat is very real, in terms of drug development in advanced stage
aimed at curing many of the planet's ills. Including one day, hopefully
sooner than we think, cancer.
Such uncertainty comes at a lousy time, to put it mildly. UWS is one of
a number of Scottish institutions recording a deterioration in financial
accounts 2024, alongside St Andrews, Glasgow and Napier universities;
redundancies have not been ruled out at Dundee, Edinburgh and Robert
Gordon's..
Universities Scotland has ranked Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews and
Aberdeen in the world's top 200, according to Times Higher Education
rankings. It means the quartet are amongst the top one per cent of the
planet's universities.
MIT Technology Review pulls no digital punches
Research in Turn Fuels Innovation and Economy
Ever since World War 11 the US has been the global leader in science and
technology, and benefited immensely from it.
MIT maintains "research fuels American innovation and the economy in
turn." Scientists around the world want to study in the US and
collaborate with American scientists to produce more of that research.
Such international collaborations "play a crucial role in American soft
power and diplomacy", and products Americans can buy, the drugs they
have access to, the diseases they're at risk of catching.
They're all directly related to the strength of research and its
connections to the world's scientists. "That scientific is now being
dismantled." This is according to in excess of ten federal workers
who've spoken to MIT Technology Review.
Adding: "As the Trump administration - spearheaded by Elon Musk's
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) - slashes personnel, programs
and agencies."
MIT reveals these workers come from several agencies including the
Departments of State, Defense and Commerce, the US Agency for
International Developoment, and the National Science Foundation.
US scientific research programs "irreparable damage"
worries
A Century of Science Ecosystem
Under Threat
Collectively, they warn that dismantling the behind-the-scenes
scientific research programs that backstop American life could lead to
long-lasting "perhaps irreparable" damage to everything..
From health care to the public's access to next-generation consumer
technologies: "The US took nearly a century to craft its rich scientific
ecosystem; if the unraveling that has taken place over the past month
continues, Americans will feel the effects for decades to come."
World-class research also represents the backstop of Scots university
motivation across the board. Latest Scottish Government figures reveal
Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) at £4.9 billion, representing 6.9 per
cent of UK total spend.
In turn, a London Economics report found Scotland's universities had an
economic impact of £17.1bn - a benefit-to-cost ratio of 10.8 to 1, the
highest in the UK.
Scottish North American Business Council statistics reveal America
continues to be Scotland's top international trading partner with around
17 per cent of all exports entering the US worth £5.5bn.
Scotland's International Education Strategy sets out a framework to
cement the country's reputation as world leader in education, R&D
exchange, working with universities and colleges to attract students and
staff from outside the UK.
R&D Bottom Line.
It remains the case Scotland's world-class university research and its
key outputs of new knowledge and insights are fundamental in finding
solutions to the most pressing global challenges.
How? By delivering the innovations tackling the likes of climate change,
food insecurity, improving health plus enabling us all to remain at the
forefront of new technologies across a broad range of sectors.
Unfortunately, under the current US political regime Scotland's prime
position as global research partner has been thrown into disarray.
Time for a wee dose of scientifically-grounded soft diplomacy? |
