01.09.14
Scottish academics warn of independence risks to funding
Senior academics in Scotland have voiced fears about losing university funding if the country votes ‘yes’ in the upcoming independence referendum.
As well as potentially losing top scientists from institutes, the academics have warned that they believe universities could lose out on billions of pounds in funding and joint projects supported by the British research councils.
Speaking to the Guardian, Professor David Weller, director of the Centre for Population Health Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, said 80% of his centre's work was in collaboration with other UK researchers and cancer charities.
He added: “There's just no way, if Scotland was a separate country, that kind of arrangement could be sustained. There are huge concerns in the area I work in.”
Ahead of the vote on 18 September, Research Councils UK, the umbrella body for seven research councils, said that research funding is just one of many issues that are “extremely uncertain” if Scotland became independent.
It added that the “uncertainty” is not good for the country, and a smaller research pool after independence would undermine its “global standing”.
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