Against a backdrop of angst in the UK universities caused by Brexit, the long awaited Cassells report on the future funding of the Irish higher education sector was released last week. The report identified a serious gap in the funding of our universities, which have seen funding cuts of some 28per cent while student numbers have risen by 18per cent over the same period. This has resulted in a deterioration in the student:staff ratio from 16:1 to 22:1 since 2008. This compares to a current OECD average of 14:1.
Why have I mentioned these two topical issues in the same breath? Because I believe two stars have aligned to make now the perfect time to invest in the future of Ireland’s youth through investment in our University system.
The funding crises has seen a serious reduction in the numbers of academics in our universities. The Cassells Group has turned over every stone looking for ways to further improve efficiency in the sector. It found that in reality there is a need for further investment, investment that must bring more academics into the universities. Their conclusions are completely in line with my own experience coming into the Irish system from abroad. Conclusions that have been highlighted to me in my recent conversations with university presidents from Australia and the UK with respect to the total budgets they manage. It is no exaggeration to say that we in the Irish universities are currently very much the 'poor cousins'.
In a normal situation, trying to rapidly increase the number of academics in all the universities in the country simultaneously (as is desperately needed) would carry the threat of an undersupply of quality candidates. However, we are not living in normal times.
Although it may seem strange to think of Brexit as a star, in this situation it is indeed the aligning star. The Brexit referendum result has left academic colleagues in the UK in shock, with a number of UK Vice Chancellors and Presidents taking quick action in the wake of the referendum to communicate with staff and students in an effort to settle them down.
Their anxiety is not surprising. University research, particularly in the STEM areas, is conducted collaboratively, with the sharing of intellect and of resources across many countries required to make discoveries that advance society and the economy. Academics are highly mobile in pursuit of the environment in which they can best realise their research ambitions.
Whatever one may think of certain EU policies, the EU has proved to be a wise and consistent supporter of research across a broad range of disciplines. The physics discovery of the century, proof of the existence of the Higgs Boson at CERN, is just one example of a research project where the EU succeeded when even the US could not.
The UK has been a net beneficiary of European Union research funding, and the academics there know it. Figures are available for the period 2007-13, and these show a total return of £8.8billion to the UK on a contribution of £5.5 billion Even if the UK acts to redirect some of its EU contribution saving into research post Brexit, the money is unlikely to be as much or to be as broadly spread as the funding currently available through the EU schemes.
Not only have the UK universities been a beneficiary of EU research funding, they have also been the destination for many of the best academics from across the European Union. Conversely, many academics of UK origin have had deep and enduring collaborations with colleagues throughout the European countries, and indeed from around the world. Consequently many academics working in UK universities see themselves as European citizens, and are bitterly disappointed at a decision the UK has made. The change in the leadership of the country will offer them no comfort whatsoever.
An exit of the UK from the EU enhances the competitiveness of Irish universities in a European context. As the only majority English-speaking country within the EU, we will have enhanced opportunities to attract the best academics from the EU and the UK, and to win more European research funding. Enhanced opportunities for inward investment in certain sectors will also provide new opportunities for Irish universities who can deliver top-class offerings for those sectors.
Following seven years of disinvestment in the Irish universities, Brexit creates a seminal moment for reinvestment and making-up lost ground. We have on our door step a large number of talented and enthusiastic academics who have much to offer both to our young people and to the competitiveness of our research and industry, and who are now looking for the opportunities that only Ireland will be able to offer in a post Brexit world.
However, the time to act is now. To have a disaffected talent pool right on our doorstep to access in order to do address our student:staff ratios is something that our competitors can only dream of. These academics will be acting quickly to secure their future as best they can, and if the possibility of a move to Ireland is not presented quickly, they will pursue other opportunities.
The stars have aligned, and to mix idioms, if we snooze we will lose a prime opportunity for Ireland that will never come again. The Cassells Report has identified the shortfall in funding to the sector and evaluated the options available to address this shortfall. The Oireachtas Education Committee must now decide how to address the shortfall and take quick action to allow the Irish universities to exploit the Brexit opportunity to the benefit of Ireland and the Irish youth.
Andrew Deeks is President of UCD