Brexit ' s Impact on UK Science Funding and Researchers

The United Kingdom’s (UK) share of European Union (EU) research funding has dropped by 28 percent since the Brexit referendum vote was cast in 2015, according to a recent analysis by the Royal Society. There has been a 39 percent reduction in UK applications to Horizon 2020, EU’s flagship research funding program. The assessment also found that the number of international scientists coming to the UK through key fellowships has fallen by 179 or 35 percent since the referendum. In the same period, the number of fellowships for scientists relocating to work in Switzerland and Italy increased by 53 each. Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Norway, and Sweden also saw increases. “We have seen a dramatic drop in the number of leading researchers who want to come to the UK. People do not want to gamble with their careers, when they have no sense of whether the UK will be willing and able to maintain its global scientific leadership,” stated Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society. “UK science has also missed out on around €0.5 billion a year because of the uncertainty around Brexit. The potential paralysis of a no-deal Brexit and the current state of chaos are hurting UK science and that is hurting the national interest,” he added. In March 2019, UK science minister Chris Skidmore commissioned an external report to get independent advice on how the UK government should strengthen the country’s research enterprise after its departure fr...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news