Murugesu was by the name of Jason.
Kevin Foy and Alamy are related.
New Scientist can reveal that not a single scientist has applied to the UK government visa scheme for award winners since it was launched six months ago. The scheme has been described as a joke by scientists.
In May, the government launched a fast-track visa route for award-winners in the fields of science, engineering, humanities and medicine who want to work in the UK. It's easier for some academics to apply for a Global Talent visa if they have one application, with no need to meet conditions such as a grant from the UK Research and Innovation funding body or a job offer at a UK organisation.
The Turing Award, the L'Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science International Awards, and various gongs awarded by professional or membership bodies both in the UK and elsewhere are some of the prizes that qualify academics for this route.
The home secretary said that the winners of the awards had so much to offer the UK. The new point-based immigration system was designed to attract the best and brightest based on their skills and talent, not where they came from.
In the six months since the scheme was launched, no one working in science, engineering, humanities or medicine has applied for a visa through this route, according to a freedom of information request by New Scientist.
The chances of a Turing or a Nobel Laureate moving to the UK to work are zero for the next decade or so according to the University of Manchester, UK. Geim won a prize for his work. He says the scheme is a joke and cannot be discussed seriously. The government thinks if you pump up UK science with a verbal diarrhea of optimism it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Jessica Wade, a material scientist at Imperial College London and a diversity in science campaigner, says that having zero people apply for the scheme doesn't surprise her. The UK is not very attractive to European students as they have to pay international fees, our pensions are being cut and scientific positions in the UK are both rare and precarious.
The shadow science minister says that it is clear that this is a government that over-spins and under delivers. The government has failed to attract scientists from abroad because of their lack of support.
The prestigious prizes route makes it easier for people at the top of their career to come to the UK, according to a Home Office spokesman. They said that they have received thousands of applications since the launch of the Global Talent route in February 2020.
The scheme was launched in the first place, and it is odd that other visa routes are already quick for top scientists.
Andrew Clark at the Royal Academy of Engineering says they have seen a lot of applications recently for foreign scientists. He says that in many cases applicants would be eligible for multiple routes. We don't want to focus on the use of any particular route over a six-month period, but rather the overall success.
Christopher Jackson, the first black scientist to host the Royal Institution's Christmas lectures, said that the idea of priority for science award winners is flawed. Jackson says that the awards are biased and that an immigration system based on them will only duplicate science's lack of diversity.
Jackson says that how we measure excellence is very vague. The awards favor people who are white, male, heterosexual, cis-gendered and reward them based on their privilege.
Women made up just 23 of the 600 science Laureates from 1901. There has never been an award for a black scientist. Most scientific award winners are white men of European descent, often working at American universities, according to studies.
Those who win some of the other awards are similar to those who win the prize visa route. Five people have won the Institute of Physics medal and prize since 2015, but none have been women. The Royal Academy of Engineering has awarded the Prince Philip medal to one woman.
There are more on these topics.
