Our President reacts to the statement released by the Francis Crick Institute which warns that a hard or ‘no deal’ Brexit could cripple UK science, as a survey of over 1,000 Crick staff reveals that 97% of scientists believe a hard Brexit would be bad for UK science
Professor Sir Robert Lechler PMedSci, President of The Academy of Medical Sciences, said:
“A “no deal” Brexit poses a grave threat to UK medical research. This is becoming increasingly pressing to the people who make up our talented international research workforce.
“Almost 30% of UK academics in our universities are non-UK nationals, and 1 in 6 academic staff at UK universities are EU-27 nationals. Without a deal, the legal status of European researchers and their families is not protected and there is a growing risk that this highly skilled and mobile workforce will leave, resulting in a less agile and collaborative research network.
“A bad deal for science would seriously jeopardise our ability to attract and retain talent from across the globe. In our Academy's Fellowship alone, the nationalities of the 48 most recently elected biomedical and health experts span four continents. These researchers make a vital contribution to the success of UK research and we must not allow our exit from the EU to dissuade researchers from seeing the UK as a desirable place to come, train and to make their careers.
“The threat of a disorderly exit is also keenly felt by our European collaborators, highlighted in a recent statement from the Federation of European Academies of Medicines on the Safeguarding of European Medical Research post Brexit. A bad deal for science will be an extremely poor outcome for the health of patients and citizens in the UK and Europe.”
A section of this statement is quoted in this Financial Times article
Read our response to the recent statement from the Federation of European Academies of Medicines on the Safeguarding of European Medical Research
Read our President's statement on how a 'no deal' Brexit jeopardises UK medical research