Evidence submitted to the Committee’s inquiry showed that the science community’s hopes and fears for the future revolved around five key issues:
- Funding – in particular the need to secure ongoing access to EU sources such as Horizon 2020 and its successors
- People – specifically the attractiveness of the UK as a place to live, work and study, and the need to provide guarantees to those already working here.
- Collaboration – for UK researchers to continue to be part of multi-national projects and continue to influence the EU’s research agenda and strategic direction
- Regulation – ensuring that regulations which facilitate research collaboration and access to the EU market are retained, and those which hinder innovation are revised.
- Facilities – concerns about the ability of UK researchers to continue to access EU research facilities in other countries, and the need to protect the future of those currently hosted in the UK.
Planning for the UK‘s exit negotiations is still underway and uncertainty remains about our future relationship with the EU. The MPs are therefore calling on the Government to act quickly and set out a vision for science.
The Committee wants to see the Government commit in the Autumn Statement to raise science expenditure as a percentage of GDP.
The Committee also believes it is vital, in light of the continuing uncertainty about the risks and opportunities associated with leaving the EU for UK science and research, that the Government has a comprehensive communication strategy.
The Committee points to the importance of UK science having a strong voice in the negotiations. It argues that the new Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) should urgently appoint a Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA).
More information about the report can be found here.