London: After 50 years, eminent physicist
Stephen Hawking is planning to leave Cambridge University over
the British government's cuts in science, a media report said.
The author of best-selling 'A Brief History of
Time', who began work in Cambridge in 1962, is frustrated with
the falling university budgets that he believes are scuppering
scientific discoveries, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
Prof Hawking is to spend two months at the Perimeter
Institute, in Ontario, this summer and, if all goes to plan,
hopes to make the move permanent, the report said.
Britain recently announced cuts to higher education
amounting to one billion pounds over three years.
And, according to the 68-year-old Prof Hawking, almost
completely paralysed by motor neurone disease, restrictions in
grants mean scientific research in Britain is now increasingly
focused on its industrial application rather than the pursuit
of knowledge and discovery.
Even his spokesman said that Prof Hawking, who is
"remained heavily critical of the British government's policy
on science funding", claiming it risked ending the nation's
history of world-class thinkers.
"Professor Hawking is considering a move but it would
depend on whether his trip to the institute is successful,"his
graduate assistant Sam Blackburn was quoted by the British
newspaper as saying.
However, a Spokesman for Cambridge University said:
"Professor Hawking has no plans to leave Cambridge at present.
However, he'll be a regular visitor to the Perimeter Institute
for research purposes."
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 03, 2010, 17:16