Earlier this week, the Government released its Central Government Supply Estimates 2022-23, detailing that £1.6 billion of funds described as ‘unused funding for Horizon and Euratom participation fees’ have been returned to the Treasury by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

In response to this development, our President, Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow, said:

“This loss of £1.6bn in research funding, if confirmed, is a major blow to UK researchers, UK universities and research institutes. It is also a loss to the UK population as science and innovation needs to be at the heart of a modern economy.”

Chair of our Policy Advisory Panel, Dr Derry K. Mercer, also responded:

“The Government’s decision to withdraw £1.6bn from the R&D budget is of great concern to all scientists, not just those working in the molecular biosciences. This negates the Prime Minister’s previous assertions that science and innovation are very important to the future of the UK. It is essential that the Government immediately speaks out and informs us of what it plans to do to mitigate the concerns of those working in R&D following the loss of this funding.”