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RSE urges the Prime Minister to support EU-wide scientific collaboration

The President of the RSE has written to the UK Prime Minister urging funding for UK-European scientific collaboration.

The UK Government has already extended a guarantee to cover all Horizon Europe funding calls until 30 September this year.

Over the last Horizon project, Scottish organisations benefitted from a total of €852.6m of the Horizon 2020 budget – some 11.14% of the total funding awarded to UK organisations. Small to medium sized enterprises secured nearly £100m of the €126.6m secured by Scottish businesses.

President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Professor Sir John Ball

In his open letter to the Prime Minister, Professor Sir John Ball said: “Maintaining research collaborations in the face of uncertainty is very challenging and the Horizon scheme provides a unique solution that delivers international connections and knowledge sharing across borders, with a view to addressing key global challenges.

“If the UK is serious about tackling, and indeed leading on, global challenges such as climate change, we need programmes like Horizon – not just for funding, but for the unparalleled routes to international partnerships.”

The open letter has also been sent to the Scottish First Minister, Humza Yousaf; the Minister for Higher and Further Education, Graeme Dey; and the Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack.

Read the RSE’s open letter on Horizon Europe funding (198KB, PDF)