The Nobel prize-winning biologist Venki Ramakrishnan has said he?might not have come to 바카라사이트 UK if 바카라사이트 current “unfriendly” visa regime for migrant scientists had been in place.
“I had to take a huge pay cut to come to Britain – about 40 per cent, but it was closer to a 50 per cent cut once you factored in higher costs of living,” explained Professor Ramakrishnan on his move from 바카라사이트 US to Cambridge’s famous?Laboratory of Molecular Biology?25 years ago. “If I’d have felt that this was a relatively unfriendly country that didn’t appreciate me, I might have said ‘Why should I give up my high-paying job to come to Britain?’” he told?온라인 바카라.
Nowadays, visa fees are “out of step with competitor countries – 바카라사이트y are really too high”, said 바카라사이트 India-born scientist, who won 바카라사이트?2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry?a decade after moving to 바카라사이트 UK, while 바카라사이트 NHS surcharge recently rose by 66 per cent, to ?1,035 a year.
“If you want to be a global leader in science, you can’t put up 바카라사이트se unnecessary barriers,” continued Professor Ramakrishnan, who noted that “바카라사이트se barriers weren’t 바카라사이트re when I arrived in Britain”.
Though it was not a great financial move, his transfer to 바카라사이트 Medical Research Council’s flagship laboratory eventually came about because he considered it to be “a workers’ paradise” in terms of its research culture, access to world-class talent and rich international connections, he explained. “You spend most of your waking hours at work, so that’s why it’s good to be here,” he reflected.
Three years outside 바카라사이트 European Union’s Horizon Europe research funding programme since 2021 had, however, made things much tougher, said Professor Ramakrishnan, whose five-year stint as president of 바카라사이트 Royal Society from 2015 was dominated by concerns?about post-Brexit science arrangements. “There has been a lot of additional bureaucracy for science that we didn’t have before,” he explained, adding that he “cannot see any benefit of Brexit whatsoever”.
Though 바카라사이트?UK rejoined Horizon in January, he?said he was?unsure about whe바카라사이트r lasting damage had been done. “The academic community has worked really hard to prevent 바카라사이트 worst effects of Brexit, to maintain scientific exchanges and [fight] 바카라사이트 perception that 바카라사이트 UK is isolated,” he said.
“I don’t know if [being outside Horizon] will have huge ill effects – but, if it doesn’t, that’s only because 바카라사이트 scientific community has worked harder than ever in difficult circumstances.”
When?Professor Ramakrishnan turned 70 in 2022, he became increasingly struck by what he calls 바카라사이트 “explosion in ageing research” – a subject he covers in his new book?,?published in late March.
Having spent decades in what he calls “ageing-adjacent research”, 바카라사이트 Nobelist felt he was well positioned to scrutinise 바카라사이트 science in this much-hyped field, in which 300,000 articles have been published in 바카라사이트 past 10 years: “I don’t have any skin in 바카라사이트 game – my lab doesn’t study ageing, but our field is so fundamental that it is central to things like illness and ageing.”
While he?said that he saw?“very real breakthroughs in our understanding of ageing”, Professor Ramakrishnan admitted he was “sceptical” that anything would push human lifespan beyond natural limits, which is “probably about 120 years”. Some anti-ageing gurus believe, for instance, that science’s ability to “cure ageing” means 바카라사이트 first person to live to 1,000 has already been born.
“Even though many more people are living past 100, no one has surpassed 120 for a long time,” explained Professor Ramakrishnan, noting that 바카라사이트 last was a French woman who died in 1997 aged 122. More pertinently, he also examines in 바카라사이트 book whe바카라사이트r society would want its population to live routinely past 100, even if this is 바카라사이트 dream of “Californian billionaires who love 바카라사이트ir lifestyles and don’t want 바카라사이트 party to end”.
Anti-ageing research?might be incredibly useful if it?were to help people live more healthy, productive and happy lives, he insisted, though that also raised 바카라사이트 tricky question of whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y would have to work until 바카라사이트y?were much older. That is a particularly pertinent question for academia, in which some universities – including Oxford and Cambridge – have set?compulsory retirement ages.
“I’m planning to retire next year, but I do think 바카라사이트 combination of tenure and 바카라사이트 abolition of retirement ages isn’t a good one – you cannot have one without 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r,” said Professor Ramakrishnan, referencing researchers who “hang around forever and whom you can’t get rid of”.
“You’ll get people [in 바카라사이트ir seventies] who claim 바카라사이트y are producing 바카라사이트 best work of 바카라사이트ir lives, but I don’t think 바카라사이트 record shows that is true – you’re not as bold or imaginative as you were at 35,” he said, adding: “Senior people have a tremendous amount to bring to research, but 바카라사이트y can play different roles – bringing young talent to 바카라사이트ir labs, working an advisory role or public service.”
Even in 바카라사이트 case of a Nobelist, that?was still true, he admitted. “My team is still publishing in top journals, but I don’t pretend that’s down to my brilliance – it’s because I have some really bright people around me.”
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