In response to a call by leading figures in British research for recent graduates to look abroad for work, the business secretary's son, Hugo Cable, offers a personal view of the nomadic lifestyle that has become the norm for young scientists
When I finished my PhD at Imperial College, London, I wrote down a list of the 10 people in the world I most wanted to work with, and ended up in Louisiana with a professor with substantial funding, setting up a new group. Three years later, when the post expired, I was accepted to a fellowship at the Centre for Quantum Technologies in Singapore, fast establishing itself as one of the largest international centres in the world.
I enjoy travelling, and my job allows me to combine this with work. There are cultural differences in academia that suit personal tastes, too - I find the US's natural dislike of academic hierarchies quite refreshing, for example. That said, not everyone has the temperament to live abroad for periods of many years. And as you get older, there are generally more personal constraints.
I am still at a stage where I am rather free to pursue my interests, but have access only to temporary posts typically lasting two or three years, with pay between that of a student and faculty member.
Clearly the situation is different as you rise up the ladder. A major consideration is the possibility of a permanent university post; getting one is easier in some countries than others. I am aware of several examples of other countries attracting young high-flying professors - by offering large start-up grants, reduced teaching and administrative burdens and relatively large salaries, with the intention that they set up new research groups free of the usual restraints. The financial differentials can be large, and I think any UK institution would struggle to compete with the financial muscle of the top-ranking US universities, such as MIT and Harvard, or some German state-governments.
These days, though, science is a global endeavour, and a prime motivation is to be in a place that is established in your field of research. It's not a static thing: centres of excellence might be anywhere, and high-performing groups come and go.
In the end, I feel privileged to do what I do, wherever I might end up. It helps that I do theory, meaning that I can function anywhere, as long as I have a laptop and an internet connection. But I study physics because I believe in the value of understanding the fundamental laws, and pushing the boundaries of knowledge and technical capability for its own sake.
That is a value system that crosses boundaries and borders: it's for that reason, perhaps more than issues of job security or money, that I have ended up in Louisiana and Singapore.
For me, it's a positive: I have had many great experiences, made friends all over the world, and even learned to survive the odd hurricane. And I still might just bring it all back home one day.
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