The British Academy notes the Government's response to the 'Leaving the EU: implications and opportunities for science and research' report

The British Academy notes the Government’s response to the House of Commons Science & Technology Select Committee report on ‘Leaving the EU: implications and opportunities for science and research’, which the British Academy provided written evidence to.

Professor Ash Amin, a Vice-President of the British Academy, said: “The British Academy believes the Government needs to provide much greater assurance and certainty to the research community, and particularly those students and staff in the humanities and social sciences who represent 50% of the research base and 80% of the economy.

As we have called on previously, we wish to see the Government:

• provide a right to remain indefinitely to those non-UK EU and EFTA national researchers, and their families, currently residing in the UK and those accepting employment here until the UK has left the EU;


• provide the same assurances for EU students arriving in the UK for the academic years 2018-19 and 2019-20 as has been provided for those arriving this and the 2017-18 academic year in terms of eligibility for student finance throughout the duration of their courses;


• support the UK’s research base by increasing the UK’s R&D spend to 3% of GDP and as an initial step to the OECD average (well below France and Germany) by the end of this Parliament, and;


• heighten considerably its communications with European research communities as many partners that we speak to remain uncertain or simply unaware of the guarantees that the Government has announced.”