Brexit and Trump have top-notch academics fleeing and Canadian schools stand to gain

[Tennis]

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/ca...-stand-to-gain

When British Prime Minister Theresa May formally set in motion her country’s departure from the EU last week, the historic move underscored what could be a surprising windfall for some Canadian universities.

At least two major institutions say last year’s Brexit vote in the U.K. prompted a number of “stellar” academics to ask for jobs here, worried that Britain’s research and social climate is deteriorating.

Recruitment deals for some of them are likely to be consummated in the next few weeks, while a similar phenomenon has seen top American scholars reach out to Canadian universities, too, they say.

“The level of interest from outside of the country is probably unprecedented,” said Meric Gertler, president of the University of Toronto. “It is across many different disciplines and across the demographic spectrum: post-docs and junior faculty right through to mid-career, to truly established stars who want to move here.”

At the University of Waterloo, a number of high-level university scholars – mostly in the maths, engineering and science – contacted administrators shortly after the U.K. voted to leave the European Community last June.

Feridun Hamdullahpur, the university’s president, said he could not reveal identities yet but three major catches are in the final stages of negotiating contracts, the first likely to be announced within a week or two.
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He described them as “stellar researchers,” at least as good in quality as those typically awarded federally funded Canada Research Chairs.

“These are very senior, top-level academic colleagues who have contacted us … to say that they were very interested in moving to Canada, moving to the University of Waterloo, right after the Brexit vote,” said Hamdullahpur. “They cited several reasons why they were doing this, but they said that Canada would be a better place for them to raise their families, and also continue their academic careers.”

Much has been said about the surge in foreign students applying to Canadian schools in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. election, but the recruitment of top-notch and otherwise hard-to-woo faculty could have a much more lasting impact.

Like Waterloo and other universities, U of T has always recruited a sizeable chunk of its faculty from outside the country, but at a recent meeting of 100 or so department heads, Gertler asked how many had received unsolicited overtures about moving here from foreign professors recently. Three quarters shot up their hands.

A number of resulting recruitment deals are in the pipeline, with announcements expected before the end of May, he said.

“The non-Canadians who are most keen to come here are folks who emigrated to the U .S. or the U.K. from elsewhere and no longer feel quite as comfortable, or no longer feel that the future is as bright for them or as secure for them as they once thought,” he said.

A top Ivy League professor and expert in artificial intelligence told the Financial Post he was in talks to decamp to an unnamed Canadian university, citing the perception that some ethnic groups are not welcome in the States. “This is not the right place to live right now,” he said.

The British academics who have approached Toronto have also cited the all-important availability of research funding. UK universities won a disproportionate total of the research grants issued by the EU, and stand to lose hundreds of millions of pounds because of Brexit, Gertler said.

“The conversation when I was in London last week was all about ‘How are we going to replace those funds?’ ” he said. “One academic I talked to said ‘I’m trying to recruit people to the UK from outside the UK, and it’s really tough right now. And I’m losing people as well.’ ”.

At the same time, Gertler said there are “pull” factors making senior professors look to Canada. They include the “fresh face” of the Liberal government, increased research funding in the 2016 federal budget and the Canada 150 Research Chair program announced in last month’s budget – money to create 25 positions for top international scholars.

But the government must make the research-chair program nimble and continue to show its support for research to “seize advantage” of the current climate, said the U of T president.

“Now is the time to be doing it.”

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/ca...-stand-to-gain

Pretty neat. They chose this and now Canada will open its doors and benefit. Win win ?

[NED funded]

@Tennisace I've always meant to ask you: Say that we kick our illegal immigrants; would you be ok if your goverment decided to welcome them. This aren't highly skilled immigrants and a lot of them barely know how to speak english.

[Activi-T]

They'll be back within 5 years once all the uncertainty is gone and they get sick of Canadian SJWs criticising them.

[Daelak]

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/ca...-stand-to-gain



http://news.nationalpost.com/news/ca...-stand-to-gain

Pretty neat. They chose this and now Canada will open its doors and benefit. Win win ?

Welcome to the Trump Brain Drain.

[Tennis]

@Tennisace I've always meant to ask you: Say that we kick our illegal immigrants; would you be ok if your goverment decided to welcome them. This aren't highly skilled immigrants and a lot of them barely know how to speak english.

You have 12 million undocumented immigrants. It's your job to create a path to citizenship.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Canda, aka the place you go to when you're so far to the left that it bothers you to be in the currently leading countries but really only speak english and have no other options :P.

[Cybran]

https://i.redditmedia.com/f1eJIKngk9...VeQ.jpg?w=807&



Higher education in North America is more about virtue signaling and tokenism and less about education.

[Bullettime]

Surprise surprise. You cut funding to science, no education reform, and deny climate change as the official government stance and of course the smart people will go elsewhere to continue research without fear.

[NED funded]

You have 12 million undocumented immigrants. It's your job to create a path to citizenship.

But say we don't. And the goverment decides to persecute all of them. Would you accept them?

[Independent voter]

$1 Canadian will buy you 74¢ US cents.

Those Canadian salaries had better be sky high.

[Daelak]

The less pretentious "academics" in my country the better. Let them all go to CA and circle jerk over philosophy while the rest of us figure out how to be productive members of society.

Yeah a society with no arts and sciences would totally be kewl bro.

[Teebone]

Deja vu? I'm not sure but I think this has been posted before.

[Narwal]

You have 12 million undocumented immigrants. It's your job to create a path to citizenship.

We have a path to citizenship that is more liberal than Canadas. Try again.

[Tennis]

But say we don't. And the goverment decides to persecute all of them. Would you accept them?

I have faith in the people down south. 12 million people, most of them law abiding and contributing members to society. Can you imagine what would happen if they all didn't show up to work tomorrow? It would be mayhem.

[NED funded]

I have faith in the people down south. 12 million people, most of them law abiding and contributing members to society. Can you imagine what would happen if they all didn't show up to work tomorrow? It would be mayhem.

Yeah for a while, but in the long term farming would get the tech revamp it has been needing for quite a while. And not all of them would suddenly dissapera it would be a graduam thing. But the question still stands would you accep them?

[Allybeboba]

The people that said they would go to Canada if Trump is elected are actually keeping their word?

[Bullettime]

The people that said they would go to Canada if Trump is elected are actually keeping their word?

This is a fleeing of intelligence and scientific research personnel.

[Arkthugal]

You stand to gain... a bunch of liberal morons. Take 'em.