Over 150 Fellows of Britain’s leading scientific institution, the Royal Society, have expressed their opposition to Brexit (Britain’s exist from the European Union) arguing that it could be a “disaster for science.”
In a letter to The Times , the signatories – who include physicist Stephen Hawking, Astronomer Royale Martin Rees and the eminent Cambridge scientist Alan Fersht – have drawn attention to the benefits that have accrued to science as a shared enterprise in the EU. “The EU has boosted UK science in two ways,” the letter notes. “First, increased funding has raised greatly the level of European science as a whole and the UK in particular because we have a competitive edge. Second, we now recruit many of our best researchers from continental Europe, including younger ones who have obtained EU grants and have chosen to move with them here.”
The best scientists from around the world are drawn to the UK because of funding made possible through the EU. The signatories point to the example of Switzerland, which till it paid into the EU was a popular destination for young scientists. “It now has limited access to EU funds because it voted to restrict the free movement of workers, and is desperately trying to find other ways to attract young talent,” the letter notes.
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The freedom of movement that the UK will lose if it opts for Brexit would be a “disaster for science and universities,” the scientists warn. “Free movement of scientists is as vital for science as free trade is for market economics,” the group of Fellows, who have signed the letter in their individual capacities, said.
The Royal Society has 1600 fellows and foreign members, which include 80 Nobel Prize winners. The Times quotes Sir Alan as saying that British science has gained £ 2.4 billion in funding over seven years. He said, “More important is the quality of people we attract from continental Europe. There is no question about it: Britain is now a net receiver of brains.”