‘Hard Brexit would science and research
SCIENCE and research in Wales could face a funding “black hole” if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, it is claimed.
The latest figures show that Welsh universities and other organisations have received €83m through the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, which provides investment for science and research projects between 2014 and 2020.
Cardiff University has received €30m, Swansea University €9m and Aberystwyth University €8m.
Altogether, the UK has received more than €3.9bn.
Universities are not the only bodies that benefit from the funding. In Wales, there are 189 Horizon 2020 participants.
Cardiff South and Penarth Labour MP Stephen Doughty, a prominent supporter of the Open Britain campaign, which wants to keep close links with the EU, said: “EU funding is crucial for our knowledge econo- my, as these figures show. Wales has received around £74m from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme already.
“If the government wrenches the UK out of the EU with no deal, it would create a funding black hole for science and research in Wales and for Welsh universities and higher education institutions, including Cardiff University.”
Horizon 2020 has supported a Cardiff University project focused on the integration of offshore wind with the existing power system, as well as a study looking at the “computational, neuroanatomical and neurochemical mechanisms” that drive decision-making.
The TWI Technology Centre in Port Talbot, a centre for engineering expertise, has benefited not just from EU funding, but the links forged across the union.
Philip Wallace, the regional manager, said: “Funding from the European framework research programmes is an important element of how TWI supports industry. As well as the monetary support, it also is instrumental in developing working relationships with complementary organisations: universities, research institutes and industrial companies throughout Europe.
“It is very important for UK industry, as well as the research sector, that access to these research programmes (H2020 and its successors) is maintained after Brexit”.
Mr Doughty pressed the UK government to provide clarity about what will happen when the UK leaves the EU, saying: “As of yet, the government has not guaranteed that it will seek to remain in EU science programmes after Brexit, and we have almost no detail about what would come next if we don’t. Ministers must ensure that no universities or projects in Wales or the rest of the UK lose out on a penny in funding due to Brexit, both up to 2020 and beyond.
“The government must end their irresponsible and ideological obsession with a hard Brexit, which is putting our science and research sector at risk. Instead they should negotiate to keep Britain in Horizon 2020 and in any successor programme.”
The Welsh Government wants the nation to continue to participate in Horizon 2020 post-Brexit.
A spokesman said: “We have been clear that Wales should continue to be part of Horizon 2020, which has brought significant benefits to our universities. Our universities have strong relations with counterparts across the EU, carrying out world-class research.
“This must not be put at risk, and we need assurances from the UK government on membership of programmes like Horizon 2020 after March 2019. We believe a ‘no deal’ Brexit would be bad for Wales and the UK. We need a negoTHOUSANDS