UK academics eyeing Otago posts

Barry Taylor.
Barry Taylor.
Academics facing an uncertain future in the United Kingdom appear to be eyeing positions at the University of Otago.

Data released to the Otago Daily Times shows a 145% increase in activity from UK-based users in the careers section of the Otago University site in June.

Activity jumped in May, the month before the vote. Last month UK activity was 137% more than the previous July, at more than 5900 hits.

Dunedin School of Medicine dean Prof Barry Taylor said two biostatistics positions had attracted early interest in the United Kingdom.

Uncertainty over the future of research in Britain appeared to have prompted higher-than-usual interest in the positions, Prof Taylor said.

The Brexit vote is a blow for British research because of funding and collaboration ties with the European Union.

The situation was a big conversation topic between academic contacts in Britain and Dunedin.

''Anybody who's got friends over there has been talking [to them] about the chances of coming to New Zealand.''

Some of the potential applicants were ''world-class figures'' and would be ''enormous assets'' if secured by the university, Prof Taylor said.

Prof James Higham, of the department of tourism, said the Brexit vote had big implications for academics and researchers.

''I could only speculate, but I think [the surge of interest is] a very sure indication that people are exploring their options.''

Prof Higham, whose brother is an academic at Oxford University, was in the United Kingdom during the Brexit vote.

''When I was there in late June the people who I was interacting with were completely devastated, completely disillusioned, gobsmacked, and very worried.''

British-born international relations authority Prof Robert Patman cautioned that openings in New Zealand's tertiary sector were limited because of funding constraints.

Because of that, he did not think the surge of interest would translate into large numbers of British academics coming to New Zealand.

New Zealand was already an attractive proposition for British and other overseas academics, he said.

eileen.goodwin@odt.co.nz

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