Brexit already impacting UK science and farms
Seven major science academies call for government assurances that academics from the EU will stay and that funding will be maintained
Members of the UK's science and agriculture industries have already begun to voice concerns about the impact on funding and labour as a result of the Brexit vote to leave the European Union.
Seven major science academies, including The Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences, have signed an open letter warning there have been immediate implications from Brexit and called for assurances from the UK government that academics from the EU will be allowed to stay and that funding for U.K. science will be maintained.
"[The UK] a net beneficiary from EU research programmes" said the open letter, published earlier this week. "Urgent discussions are needed on how to address any funding gap in both the short and medium term."
A report published by The Royal Society in December 2015 found that while the UK overall was a net contributor to the EU budget, it received more EU research funding than it had paid for.
"The UK's contribution to EU research and development of 5.4 billion euros (US$5.95 billion) over the period 2007–2013," the report said. "During this time, the UK received 8.8 billion euros (US$9.7 billion) in direct EU funding for research, development and innovation activities."
According to the open letter, 15 per cent of academic staff at UK universities are from other EU states. In addition, the BBC reported that some UK firms had stopped receiving EU funds and UK academics were being left out of EU research projects.
