Jim Conroy and Miles Padgett, Vice Principals for Internationalisation and Research, assess the way forward for EU funded research at the UofG.

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The result of the EU referendum on the 23 June 2016 has brought with it uncertainty and many unanswered questions. One of these relates to our access to EU funding sources and infrastructure. Although the situation is still evolving we would like to inform those of you who are in receipt of EU funding and/or are planning to apply for funding from EU sources of our position and actions in relation to securing clarity about future access to this funding stream.

The EU is a very important source of income and prestige for the University of Glasgow, and it is an area in which UK institutions punch above their weight (see the link below our signatures). We are monitoring the situation closely and using our participation in the Russell Group, Universities UK, and other bodies to influence negotiations that affect our status regarding EU research funding.

With our colleagues in the Russell Group we are this week presenting a detailed position statement to Minister of State for Universities and Science, Jo Johnson, demanding clarity from the government about our future access to EU Framework Programmes and infrastructure, and about the impact of the referendum on EU nationals’ rights to study and work in the UK. We will use this influencing route to argue for the UK to retain access to EU research funding by according it the status of an 'associated country' (associated countries can participate in all, or part, of the Horizon 2020 programme).

Even once Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty has been invoked, it will still take two years to fully negotiate and implement it. While we believe there to be no immediate concern of UK-based researchers being excluded from EU funding schemes, we appreciate that uncertainty brings apprehension. We will both keep you informed and find every means possible to support you. In the meantime, those of you in receipt of EU funding should continue to use these grants to support your research, and similarly those of you preparing grants should continue to make applications. Please contact the research support team in the EU office with any query about current or future funding from the EU www.gla.ac.uk/services/researchsupportoffice/theteams/euteam/.

Yours sincerely

James Conroy, Vice Principal for Internationalisation

Miles Padgett, Vice Principal for Research

Benefits of EU membership to UK research that the Russell Group is trying to preserve in its negotiations with Government:

www.russellgroup.ac.uk/media/5417/russell-group-universities-and-the-european-union.pdf

First published: 28 June 2016

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