The UK faces a science brain drain following Brexit if leaked Home Office proposals for immigration are enacted, leading campaigners have warned.

The warning comes as the government published its Brexit science position paper outlining its hopes to continue to pay into European funded research bodies including the flagship €80bn Horizon 2020 programme.

It said it wanted to “build a new, deep and special partnership with the EU” which would preserve its place as a global leader in science.

But scientists warned that “science collaboration needed an immigration system to match”.

Sarah Main, executive director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE), said: “This requires us to fight to attract talented scientists and engineers from the global pool, not to reluctantly allow them in.”

She said immigration is one of the top concerns of scientific businesses and universities and the leaked document had raised concerns in the sector that this would deter future recruitment.

“The criteria of salary and skills that are considered in the leaked document could lead to swaths of scientists and engineers being cut off from entering the UK,” said Main, one of the leading advocates for the sector.

Her concern was reinforced by the Royal Society whose research shows that 16% of academic staff and 14% of all post graduate researchers come from the EU.

In its Brexit position paper, the government points out that UK scientists are among the most feted in the world with more Nobel laureates than any country outside the US.



It makes the claim that it will seek to negotiate a continued close partnership with Europeans – however it no detail is outlined on how it would propose to fund this.

Last week the EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said one of the reasons for the impasse in the exit bill negotiations was Britain’s failure to commit to seven-year funding cycles for science.



He pointed out that this would include contingent liabilities for funding allocated as part of the programme for research projects running potentially for years beyond 2020.

Venki Ramakrishnan, president of the Royal Society, described the paper as “encouraging in both its tone and aspirations for an ambitious agreement”.

However he said this was “a first step and much work needs to be done to work out the conditions that ensure our continued close collaboration with the EU”.

He said that was necessary “to dispel the uncertainty that continues to pose a threat to our position as a global scientific power”.

Ramakrishnan called on the government to state its financial commitment to Horizon 2020 – until its end – as soon as possible.

“We have to implement an immigration system that can attract the brightest and best minds to the UK, and a regulatory system that promotes seamless collaboration.

“Science has always transcended national borders and there is a real will on all sides to ensure that Brexit does not hinder that. The intent expressed by the government can provide the basis to strike what can be a win-win outcome that could set a positive tone for negotiations on other issues.”

The government said it wants “to build a new, deep and special partnership with the European Union” while trumpeting the UK’s position as one of the world’s leaders in scientific and medical research.

Its Brexit position paper said European collaboration is particularly important for science. “All EU member states benefit from these close relationships,” it said.

Reports earlier this week suggested the government would offer to pay over £1bn a year to stay in the EU programmes, but the paper stopped short of funding specifics.