Brexit Science and Innovation Summit consultation response

22 February 2018

Russell Group universities generate billions of pounds every year for the UK economy [1]. After Brexit they will play an even more important role in ensuring the UK remains globally competitive by boosting jobs and growth and driving productivity through delivering cutting-edge research and innovation and providing the pool of high-level graduate and postgraduate skills our economy needs.

In our submission to the Science and Technology Select Committee’s Brexit Science and Innovation Summit we support the Government’s ambition for the UK to remain one of the world’s best places for science and innovation. We believe that an early agreement between the UK and EU on this issue will ensure that science cooperation remains a top priority for both sides.

The Brexit negotiations have addressed some issues, regarding citizens’ rights and participation in research programmes until 2020. However, there are still concerns about universities’ future ability to recruit and retain talented EU staff and students to maintain the high-standard of research and education in the UK.

Find out more in our full submission to the Science and Technology Committee.

[1] Analysis undertaken by London Economics shows that each year teaching and learning, research and knowledge transfer, education exports and the wider supply chain of the 24 Russell Group universities add £86.8 billion to the UK economy. (http://russellgroup.ac.uk/news/economic-impact-of-russell-groupuniversities/ )

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