Energy transition scientist Chen Peipei leaves Cambridge to build her own lab in Hong Kong

Chen relocates to gain research autonomy and start-up grants for young scientists, which she says UK universities struggle to afford4-MIN READ4-MIN7 ListenPublished: 12:00pm, 5 Jul 2026For some early-career scientists, the prestige of British academia is being marred by shrinking research funding and a complex geopolitical climate, prompting top-tier talent to look elsewhere for stability and resources.Chen Peipei, who moved from a research associate role at the University of Cambridge to a presidential assistant professorship at City University of Hong Kong in May, said she was drawn by a landscape supportive of young faculty.The energy transition scientist joins the school of energy and environment at CityU, where she has access to the research budgets and PhD student recruitment quotas necessary to build a team – an opportunity she said was becoming increasingly rare in Britain.09:18Is the world embracing a new nuclear age 40 years after the Chernobyl disaster?“For scientists, having funds and a team to carry out research is hugely appealing,” she said in an interview. “In Britain, a teaching position rarely comes with research start-up funds. New faculty members are mostly expected to teach, leaving little time to develop their own research.”As British universities grapple with a financial crisis, a recent survey by Universities UK found that nearly one third of the 48 responding member institutions had cut academic research activity in the past three years, more than double the 14 per cent reported in 2024.It also found staffing was a primary cost-saving target, with 79 per cent of universities pursuing voluntary redundancies over the past three years or putting hiring freezes in place.Many institutions across Britain have announced job-cut plans over the past two months, including the universities of Dundee, Sussex, Nottingham, Glasgow and Aberdeen.