A detailed analysis of current financing by the European Union of academic research in the UK has concluded the nation will have a huge funding gap to fill after Brexit.

€1.1 billion per year gap

The research by the Technopolis Group consultancy and commissioned by four UK academies – the Academy of Medical Sciences, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Royal Society – found that the €1.1 billion per year that UK research currently receives from Europe was spread across all academic disciplines, though some were far more vulnerable to its withdrawal.According to the study, archaeology gets the largest proportion of its funding from Europe (38 per cent) followed by classics (33 per cent) and IT (30 per cent).

No guarantees of matching funding

However, in absolute cash terms, the biggest post-Brexit losers stood to be clinical medicine, which won £120 million in EU funding in 2014-15, biosciences (£91 million), physics (£55 million), chemistry (£55 million), and IT (£46 million).While the government in London has promised to continue supporting UK researchers bidding for European funds during Brexit negotiations, no guarantees have been made that matching amounts of funding will be available from HM Treasury after the country's departure from the bloc.

EU funding sources are essential

Nobel Prize winner Prof Sir Venki Ramakrishnan, president of the Royal Society, said, “This report shows that EU funding sources are essential for UK science and innovation, which is among our greatest strengths and key to our future. After the UK leaves the EU we must make sure that research is not short-changed and the overall funding level of science is maintained.”Prof Sir Robert Lechler, president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, added that collaboration with the EU was about more than simply money. “This study demonstrates that EU funding is deeply embedded across UK research and innovation supporting disciplines, collaborations and individual researchers throughout their careers,” he said.“However, it is important to remember that our relationship with the EU is not only about the pounds. EU networks are absolutely vital for providing access to the people and the partnerships which allow the biomedical sciences in the UK to excel on the global stage.”

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Of the 15 subjects most dependent on EU funding for a proportion of their income, seven were social sciences, six were in arts and humanities, and two in natural and physical sciences.“UK based humanities and social sciences are world leading and this is recognised in the significant funding they have won from competitive EU programmes,” said Ash Amin, foreign secretary of the British Academy. “The high proportion of EU funding in these disciplines also demonstrates the limited funding sources that exist within the UK.”The report found that UK universities collectively received £725 million of research income from the EU in 2014/15, amounting to 12 per cent of their £5.9 billion total research grant income. The universities receiving the most from the EU were Oxford (£60.3 million), Cambridge (£59.5 million) and University College London (£45.7 million).For related news and features, visit our Brexit section.Access hundreds of global services and suppliers in our Online Directory  Get access to our free Global Mobility Toolkit

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