The writer is a science commentatorThe assertion that the UK is world-beating at science and technology is often repeated but rarely questioned. The government boasts of being a “global leader”; UK Research and Innovation, the national funding agency, talks of the “UK’s global leadership in transformative technologies”.
The reality may be less rosy, according to provocative new analysis by science policy academics. Their conclusion — that the UK is good, but not outstanding, in priority areas of science and technology — challenges the prevailing narrative of a plucky nation with brainy ideas falling just shy when it comes to spinning them into major innovations. Rather, the UK’s reputation is inflated by historic successes including Nobel Prizes, universities that score highly in global rankings and an over-dependence on wildly successful outliers, including the London-based AI company DeepMind.
The reality check matters: British science is undergoing a major reset, prompted by factors including Brexit and declining productivity. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology was created last month; Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel laureate and director of the Francis Crick Institute in London, has published his long-awaited review of the UK’s research and innovation landscape. The premise that British science is good but not exceptional strengthens the case for resuming post-Brexit ties with Horizon, the EU’s research programme.