top | item 11965790

(no title)

raphman_ | 9 years ago

Requesting exactly three reasons sounds quite trollish...

A Leave vote would probably negatively affect many European research projects. The EU's framework programmes [1] are funding many collaborations and exchange programs. If the UK leaves, non-British researchers might need to to leave the UK, British universities would get isolated from the rest of European academia, long-term projects would have their funding canceled, etc. Even if EU and UK somehow would find a way to continue research cooperations, the uncertainty will have negative consequences right now. While this might not directly affect the average joe, it would negatively affect quite a few people I know.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framework_Programmes_for_Resea...

discuss

_delirium|9 years ago

I think it's also unlikely that the UK will end up neutral on scientific funding overall. There's no fundamental reason it couldn't, of course: as Leave campaigners have argued, leaving the EU research programmes doesn't require a net reduction in funding for UK researchers, since the UK could simply put an equivalent amount of money into its own scientific funding programmes. Those of us in computing, for example, currently get a good portion of our funding from the EU's framework programmes, and another good portion from the UK's own EPSRC. The UK could keep the total level of funding for science/engineering research constant by setting the EPSRC's new funding level to an amount equal to the sum of previous EPSRC funding, plus the funds previously received by UK-based science/engineering researchers from the EU framework programmes. But will the government actually do so? I predict they will not, and that it won't even be close.

MichaelGG|9 years ago

Does the US or other countries not have any research or collaboration programs? Did people not cooperate in times past? I've watched some of the debates and these arguments never seem to mention that of course you can negotiate anything.

calsy|9 years ago

3 reasons more of a joke in reference to the Queen. Thanks for polite answer.