While Great Britain is the biggest beneficiary of European funds, Brexit plunges research teams into utter uncertainty.
“We have the impression of having been betrayed by the English”, confides Professor Philippe Froguel. Professor of genetics at Imperial College London and diabetology at Lille University Hospital, the doctor has been dividing his time between England and France since 2000.
Within these two large institutions, he participates in numerous research projects largely funded by the European Union (EU). Work today called into question by Brexit, voted on June 24.
“British medical research, now dominant in Europe, risks collapsing, warns the researcher worried. If Great Britain has been able to reach this level, it is thanks to European cooperation and research funding. It is a real disaster for them, but also for European research. “
In fact, with 20% of European funds allocated to British teams, Great Britain is the first beneficiary of this system – which Eurosceptics denounce but which they have been able to use so well. Leaving Europe therefore means losing 1.4 billion euros per year. A colossal loss which could not be offset by British funds. The end of European funds will thus spell the end of many research projects.
Philippe Froguel, professor of genetics at Imperial College London and diabetology at Lille University Hospital: ” For the British, there is great anxiety about the European project. They are in a panic because they have absolutely no idea if they are going to be able to continue. “
Uncertainty
Six days after the victory of the “Leave” in the polls, uncertainty has therefore settled in the minds of British and expatriate researchers. Because the strength of European research lies in these exchanges of “brains”. Brexit could thus encourage the flight of these experts or discourage some from accepting a post in Great Britain.
But will expats who choose to stay need a work visa? And what about researchers, like Prof. Philippe Froguel, who live and work both in Great Britain and in an EU member country? It is absolute vagueness. Anguish. “But what is certain is that British employers, and in particular universities, will think twice before hiring a researcher or doctor from the continent since no one knows what their conditions of stay will be”, deplores the French doctor.
The Swiss example
The uncertain future of British research recalls the concerns in which Swiss research institutes found themselves in 2014 following a vote in favor of leaving the Schengen area. Immediately, Europe sanctioned Switzerland by freezing all its funding. “We were really excluded from the interesting part of the European programs for 6 months. But it was the young researchers who were mainly concerned, explains Jean-Luc Barras, head of the international cooperation division at the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Indeed, the researchers targeted by the exclusion measures were precisely those who will only have one or two opportunities to submit a request to the European Research Council to assert their career. Some may therefore have missed an opportunity, and that’s a real shame ”.
Jean-Luc Barras, Head of the International Cooperation Division at the Swiss National Science Foundation: ” Swiss researchers were relegated to the state of third state, which concretely means that they were eligible for participation in the research consortium but not funded by the European Commission. “
Obtaining these grants is also a guarantee of quality for scientists, a royal pass for those who wish to internationalize their research. Like young Swiss doctoral students, young British researchers also risk seeing their careers shaken up by Brexit.
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