Biophysical Society Bulletin | December 2019

Public Affairs

Around theWorld Scientists in Ukraine Lead Fight for Scientific Integrity

Brexit Uncertainty Takes Toll on Research

The Ministry of Education and Science in Ukraine is intro- ducing a new system that will create more control over universities’ ethics and potentially remove their right to award degrees. Under the new rules, the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance will grant universi- ties the right to award degrees, which also means that the agency has the right to revoke this privilege. In theory, this could prohibit a university from graduating students if the school doesn’t adhere to the agency’s standards, such as in cases of plagiarism or other types of cheating. The Ministry of Education and Science also states that new reforms to change universities and science are underway in regards to funding. The agency is introducing a system in which the funding of universities and science is related to performance in areas such as the number of citations, the number of grants and investments, cooperation with businesses, and the international ranking of universities. Furthermore, the ministry wants to change the way scien- tists and professors are paid at universities because they acknowledge that professors are paid too little.

The impact of Brexit uncertainty has started yielding tan- gible data on the impact to UK research. According to an analysis by the Royal Society, Britain’s annual share of EU research funding has fallen by nearly a third since 2015. The analysis also shows a 35 percent drop in scientists going to the United Kingdom via EU initiatives. In addition, the number of academics from EU countries leaving the United Kingdom for other university jobs increased by almost half. The President of the Royal Society estimates that UK sci- ence has missed out on approximately £440 million per year due to the uncertainty.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged his desire to maintain close links with EU science programs after Brexit through negotiations with the EU. In addition to the new fast-track visa system to attract leading scientists to work in the UK announced in September, the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, which manag- es the science budget, said they are firmly committed to increasing research and development investment to at least 2.4 percent of gross domestic product by 2027. Apply to be the 2019-2020 BPS Congressional Fellow! Are you interested in working on Capitol Hill and learning more about science policy? All members who have obtained their PhD and are eligible to work in the United States may apply. Application deadline: December 20, 2019 Visit www.biophysics.org for additional information.

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