Following the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, Professor Sir Robert Lechler PMedSci, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences said:
"I am pleased that the Chancellor reiterated his commitment to invest 2.4% of GDP in R&D by 2027, a substantial increase on the current 1.7%.
"Allocating £200 million to genomics and the development of medical lasers will no doubt help to keep UK science and technology at the top of its game.
"The announcement that PhD-level roles will be exempt from visa caps shows welcome recognition of the international nature of science and research.
“Building on today’s announcements, I now look forward to seeing a Government roadmap detailing how the 2.4% target will be achieved and, crucially, how our future immigration system will support science and research.
"I hardly need to highlight that all of this takes place in the context of huge uncertainty around Brexit. If we crash out of Europe then medical research will be seriously compromised and it will be unrealistic to expect the Government to achieve the ambition expressed in today’s statement."
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