{"id":1881,"date":"2017-04-05T13:14:37","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T13:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/?p=1881"},"modified":"2017-05-09T10:16:25","modified_gmt":"2017-05-09T10:16:25","slug":"brexit-scientific-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kolabtree.com\/blog\/brexit-scientific-research\/","title":{"rendered":"What does Brexit mean for the scientific community?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0decision to leave the EU will have a huge, unprecedented impact on the UK’s research<\/a> and scientific community, which currently comprises a healthy mix of researchers from all around the world. The free movement of scientists within the EU has so far allowed Britain to access and bring home some of the best talent across EU’s member countries. There has been much debate revolving around the referendum results about the future of research and innovation in the UK post-Brexit. While Theresa May has\u00a0tried to provide some reassurance<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0budget for science and innovation has been increased<\/a>\u00a0by \u00a32 billion a year, universities and academia are still skeptical about how the effects of Brexit will play out.<\/p>\n

With Article 50 being triggered on 29 March 2017, Brexit is quickly turning into an immediate reality, and pro-EU scientists are even more concerned about what it will mean for science.<\/p>\n


\nReactions to Brexit\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The scientific community had made no secret of their stand on Brexit last year. In a letter in The Times, dated 22nd May 2015, some of the scientific community’s stalwarts appealed for a continued relationship with the EU on behalf of\u00a0Scientists for EU<\/a>. The signees included Nature’s editor-in-chief, Astronomer Royal Lord Rees of Ludlow and Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse. Scientists for EU now has over 58.9K supporters on Twitter and close to 2 lakh followers on Facebook.<\/p>\n

In September, it was feared that\u00a015% of the UK’s university workforce would leave<\/a>\u00a0because of Brexit. In a\u00a0Nature poll<\/a>, a whopping 83% of researchers living in the EU thought that Brexit was a bad idea. When the vote results were out, scientists across the country were dismayed, as exemplified in this article by\u00a0Stephen Curry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Twitter saw an outpouring of emotions from the research community, most expressing shock and disappointment.\u00a0Nature<\/a><\/em>\u00a0carried the responses of students and academics to the referendum results, with industry experts expecting brain drain and PhD scholars terrified about their future.<\/p>\n

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@NatureNews<\/a> I am managing EU funded research: Britain will most likely experience brain drain, back to where EU researchers feel supported.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Marianna Ventouratou (@mariannamorys) June 24, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n