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The UK should drop the language of ¡°science superpower¡± and recast itself as a ¡°global partner of choice for R&D¡±, a Wellcome Trust report has urged.

Most famously used by Boris Johnson?while in office, the?slogan?was frequently?adopted?by different Conservative prime ministers between 2019 and 2024 and has also been deployed??by Labour¡¯s science secretary Peter Kyle, who has also discussed his wish for Britain to become an ¡°

However, a??by Wellcome argues the phrase did not resonate with the UK public and, when it was highlighted, was unpopular because it did not speak to the importance of global collaborations in science.

The slogan which ¡°attempted to harness patriotism and celebrated the UK¡¯s historic strengths to sell UK R&D¡± post-Brexit also alienated potential international research partners, states the report, titled ¡°The global partner of choice for R&D: Finding the UK¡¯s place in a changing world¡±, which was?published on 14 July.

¡°The idea of a ¡®science superpower¡¯ suggests that the UK competes with others for supremacy, roots the UK¡¯s authority in its historic achievements and predicates success solely on what the UK stands to gain,¡± says the study.

¡°At best, this irritates prospective partners, and at worst, it prevents the UK negotiating research agreements with other countries. It simply does not speak to the collaborative nature of research,¡± it continues.

The Union Jack-branded GREAT campaign seen on billboards around the world, which ¡°projected UK greatness to the world¡±, was also unhelpful, says the report, which recommends a new narrative for UK science to project globally.

¡°In a world that is becoming increasingly unstable, divided and protectionist, the government must resist the drift to isolationism and grasp the opportunity to present itself as the global partner of choice for R&D,¡± it says.

Calling for an overhaul of ¡°positioning, branding and messaging of current campaigns like GREAT¡±, new communications approaches should support the idea of the UK as ¡°the global partner of choice with the R&D sector¡±, it says.

Under this new approach partnerships should stress the values of co-creation, mutual benefit, long-term stability and, where possible, ¡°bottom-up, researcher-led¡± research, says the study, which also stresses the need for lower visa costs to ¡°reduc[e] barriers to the global exchange of ideas¡±.

¡°The government must move away from promoting the UK through its individual strengths and accomplishments and instead project it as the global partner of choice for R&D,¡± it concludes.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com