Brian Cox on Brexit and using science to build bridges between nations

In his new TV show people’s professor Brian Cox demystifies the universe. He tells Phoebe Luckhurst about Brexit aftershocks and the science of diplomacy
All charm: Professor Brian Cox is overseeing the Royal Society’s summer exhibition
Adrian Lourie

The Royal Society is buzzing: there is a hero on the premises. Professor Brian Cox has arrived to oversee the opening of the science institution’s summer exhibition, and no one is playing it cool. One scientist enthuses in a reverent whisper that Cox is “such a great ambassador for the sciences”. Another approaches an organiser and asks when he will be passing their exhibit. She assures them they’re “on the list” and turns to me. “They’re all dying to meet him.”

Cox, though, is cheerfully unaware of the effect he is having. He folds himself onto a chair, posture straight, and on cue starts enthusing about the Royal Society, where he is “professor of engagement”, and the summer exhibition that opened yesterday.

According to its website, the exhibition is a “free festival of visionary science and technology”. What’s special about it? “I think what’s different to most other public-engagement projects is that you’re seeing genuinely cutting-edge science,” says Cox. “Virtually every stand is about research that is being done right now.”

The subjects of the exhibition are disparate: it encompasses cosmology and cancer treatment, urban bird calls and a scratch-and-sniff station where you can “smell” a comet (acrid, a bit like cleaning fluid). There are stands from senior scientists and students alike. Cox’s favourite piece is one about the Big Bang. “It’s this beautifully developed theory of why we’re here, basically.”

The Cox fan is right: the 48-year-old physics professor is a personable ambassador for the science community. He is a telegenic presenter of popular documentaries in which his real enthusiasm for knowledge comes across easily. He never condescends but instead takes an endearingly awed approach to discovery.

Many scientists find it hard to express concepts eloquently, or in terms that non-scientists will understand, but Cox illustrates difficult ideas deftly. “Science is about paying attention to small things by asking good questions and following them through,” he says.

His latest TV programme, Forces of Nature, is being broadcast on the more popular BBC1. Previously, his work has appeared on the more highbrow BBC2. He frowns. “It’s quite challenging, I think,” he says. He admits that an interviewer told him she’d had to watch it three times. “But if you understand everything, then it’s dull isn’t it?” Cox says. “If someone says something to you and you say you fully understand, there’s nowhere to go.”

He thinks ongoing scientific research at all levels is vital. Which brings us, almost neatly, and inevitably, to Brexit — the elephant in every room, pub and Uber journey in the capital. Last weekend thousands of people marched from Trafalgar Square to Parliament to protest against the planned departure from the EU. I ask what effect Brexit will have on the amount of money available for research. “I promised myself I wouldn’t really talk about it,” he demurs. There’s a pause, before he quietly but convincingly does so.

Anti-Brexit 'March for Europe' protest

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“What you can say as a fact is that we receive more than a billion currency units a year. Pounds, euros, whatever it is, it’s about a billion,” he begins. “So the first question is what happens to that. It’s obviously a big hit to the university research base. That’s extremely problematic.” A member of the Royal Society’s staff points out that “10 per cent of university research funding comes from the EU”. Cox nods.

“Even more urgent is the position of EU nationals in our system,” he says. “Not only in lectureships and professorships but post-docs and students. All these things need addressing. But it’s not just science. There’s an enormous list.”

He concedes, though, that “nothing’s going to be clear until the Tory leadership selection is dealt with. Until September no one’s going to know what the trajectory is, and what the goal of the Government is. Is it to be part of the European Economic Area, is it to protect free movement, is it to protect access to bits of EU funding or all of EU funding? Like everybody else I’m just there watching, saying someone’s going to have to come forward with a structure.”

He is certain, though, that when a plan is presented, the universities and organisations such as the Royal Society will be involved. “There will have to be some sort of consultation.”

Brian Cox in Forces of Nature 
BBC

I suggest that British science might become isolated: unable to attract talent, its own talent unable to travel easily to foreign research posts. “Absolutely,” he nods. “When you look at my fields, particle physics and astronomy, it’s all about European and global collaboration. The European Space Agency, the European Southern Observatory, CERN. The “e” in CERN stands for Europe — our whole science infrastructure is European. The facilities we have are part of a much wider structure: one single country generally cannot afford to build large facilities on its own. It’s all about collaboration.”

He also worries about “image”. “If you’re going to win in terms of attracting talent to your country, your country has to look like a nice place to be,” he observes. “It has to look like a place where collaboration is welcome and skilled people from across the board are welcome. That needs to be dealt with. Even the most passionate Brexiteer would accept that the image of our country at the moment is one that…” He pauses. “...let’s say we don’t look entirely in control of our own destiny. Somebody has to get a grip of the situation.”

Cox is certain that science can play a role in diplomacy. “I was at the Stephen Hawking celebration last week and one of the sessions was on space exploration,” he says. “We had Russian cosmonauts and US astronauts. Space exploration is an absolute collaboration — things like the International Space Station are one of the few areas where there is genuine international collaboration.”

He says CERN is another example. “We have Iran, Pakistan, the US, Israel, the European nations, China and Russia involved. There are scientists from every nation. And I list those ones because they’re nations that in many cases are in a foreign policy conflict. In science you have countries collaborating that don’t in many other ways. It’s those bridges between nations that you have to maintain and build upon if you want a more stable world,” he continues. “It’s almost a utopian structure.”

He is hopeful that science sets a precedent. “Even countries such as Iran are not excluded from that structure,” he says, and suggests that whatever happens it would be “counterproductive in the extreme” to exclude Britain from any of these international conversations.

Cox poses at The Royal Society
Adrian Lourie

But now it’s back to the order of play at the Royal Society. He insists on showing me around, and I pretend to understand the Big Bang. People smile shyly as he approaches, though one scientist who is manning a cancer research stand sticks out her hand and explains that she has a connection with him already. “We both won the Faraday prize!” she says, excitedly. She explains her approach to the battle against cancer. He is engaged: asking questions, peering at the display. He takes her contact details (“just doing some recruitment”), his mind whirring already about how her work could interact with his own.

As he leaves, she quips wryly that it’s all “European Research Council-funded, of course”.

“Yes, we’ve touched on that,” he shoots back, with the faintest of conspiratorial glances.

Follow Phoebe on Twitter @phoebeluckhurst

The Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition runs until Sunday Admission free; royalsociety.org

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