Could the Brexit harm science in Britain?
In the wake of the British public's decision to exit the European Union, science and research academies there face an uncertain and potentially damaging future, as 聽come from sources across the European Union.
Research projects in Britain have received , comprising about 10 percent of the total spent by government-funded research councils 鈥� a source of funding that British institutions will struggle to replace.
In an essay published July 1 in the journal Science,聽Graeme Reid the Chair of Science and Research Policy at University College London, describes British聽scientific research is with the rest of the EU.
"Right now," he writes, "over 18% of funding returned to the UK from EU resources is for R&D, making this one of the larger parts of the EU's relationship with the UK. Thus, many thousands of relationships between students, academics, and administrators bind together scientists in the UK and other European countries."
鈥淚t鈥檚 a disaster. We are in terms of the funding, it鈥檚 going to be very difficult to sort out,鈥� said Nobel Prize-winning British physicist Peter Higgs, quoted in the International Business Times, adding that it鈥檚 鈥渘ot just the funding, but the way in which membership of the European Union results in the flow of people between different countries.鈥�
The turmoil has already begun, with British research projects, now seen as financial risks, being forced to leave EU-funded projects. In one case, an EU project officer recommended dropping all UK partners because Britain鈥檚 funding could no longer be guaranteed.
While such immediate setbacks are difficult for British researchers, greater worries exists about what lies ahead. Joe Gorman, a senior scientist at Sintef, Norway鈥檚 leading research institution, told the Guardian that there will be a significant decrease in the number of .听
Also, as British organizations place bids for future funding for projects, institutions may miss out on opportunities without ever knowing they existed. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 get invited to the party, you don鈥檛 even know there is a party,鈥� said Gorman to聽The Guardian.
While British researchers are currently striving to remain prominent players in the world of scientific research, Gorman believes a strong, clear and immediate statement needs to come from the UK government on how Britain will contribute to future EU projects from outside of the Union itself. 鈥溾�淎ll the talk is about when negotiations will start,鈥� said Gorman. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want that. People want to know now what is going to happen.鈥�
