Tuesday, April 26, 2022
UK research funding threatened by Brexit
The Guardian reports that British universities are facing a brain drain as the row over Brexit in Northern Ireland threatens £250m in research funding from the EU.
The paper says that the European Research Council (ERC) has written to 98 scientists and academics who were recently approved for €172m (£145m) in grants telling them that if the UK’s associate membership of the €80bn Horizon Europe programme is not ratified they will not be eligible to draw down the money:
Scientists have said they are now scrambling to find alternative EU institutions to host the funding, with some already turning down the ERC money and hoping the UK government’s promise of replacement cash will be delivered.
But they say in either case it is “devastating” as the ERC is considered one of the most prestigious programmes in the world.
Getting an ERC grant is “a badge of honour for any researcher and a signal of world-class leading research” that is a big draw for talent from the US and elsewhere, said Ethan Ilzetzki, an associate professor in economics at the London School of Economics.
“Higher education institutions on the continent are salivating at the prospect of poaching this talent … higher education will be hurt for years to come if this isn’t resolved,” he said.
The then Brexit secretary David Frost fought hard to get associate membership of Horizon Europe as part of the trade deal negotiations in 2020 but ratification has been delayed while the UK fails to implement the Northern Ireland protocol.
UK scientists say they are being punished. Payam Gammage, a scientist at the Beatson Institute at Glasgow University, said: “It is a strange choice for the EU. The UK isn’t going to notice it immediately. It will take a long time to have any impact. All that happens is a bunch of scientists have a lot of opportunities taken away, or their lives just made a lot more difficult. We’re the only victims.”
None of this was on the side of the bus of course, but it is the predictable consequence of the way the UK government is completely screwing the country by its mishandling of the Brexit process.
The paper says that the European Research Council (ERC) has written to 98 scientists and academics who were recently approved for €172m (£145m) in grants telling them that if the UK’s associate membership of the €80bn Horizon Europe programme is not ratified they will not be eligible to draw down the money:
Scientists have said they are now scrambling to find alternative EU institutions to host the funding, with some already turning down the ERC money and hoping the UK government’s promise of replacement cash will be delivered.
But they say in either case it is “devastating” as the ERC is considered one of the most prestigious programmes in the world.
Getting an ERC grant is “a badge of honour for any researcher and a signal of world-class leading research” that is a big draw for talent from the US and elsewhere, said Ethan Ilzetzki, an associate professor in economics at the London School of Economics.
“Higher education institutions on the continent are salivating at the prospect of poaching this talent … higher education will be hurt for years to come if this isn’t resolved,” he said.
The then Brexit secretary David Frost fought hard to get associate membership of Horizon Europe as part of the trade deal negotiations in 2020 but ratification has been delayed while the UK fails to implement the Northern Ireland protocol.
UK scientists say they are being punished. Payam Gammage, a scientist at the Beatson Institute at Glasgow University, said: “It is a strange choice for the EU. The UK isn’t going to notice it immediately. It will take a long time to have any impact. All that happens is a bunch of scientists have a lot of opportunities taken away, or their lives just made a lot more difficult. We’re the only victims.”
None of this was on the side of the bus of course, but it is the predictable consequence of the way the UK government is completely screwing the country by its mishandling of the Brexit process.
