The Role of EU Membership in UK Science and Engineering Research

A joint CaSE-EPC report aiming to inform the wider debate ahead of the EU referendum considers the roles EU membership plays in UK science and engineering

This report contains evidence and insight gained from our data analysis and interactions with the science and engineering community. Throughout the report we have largely focused on research conducted in UK universities, in part due to the availability of data. 

Summary:

• The UK is a net contributor to the EU, but it is a net receiver of EU funding for research.
• Between 2007 and 2013, the UK received €48bn from the EU, of this, €8.8bn was for research, development and innovation. Over the same period, the UK contribution to the EU was €78bn, of which €5.4bn was for research, development and innovation.
• 48% of the increase in UK university research budgets over this period is from EU government sources. 

In our survey:

• 93% of researchers asked agreed that EU membership is beneficial to UK science and engineering research
• 95% of researchers asked agreed that EU membership supports and maintains academic collaborations
• 66% of researchers asked agreed that EU membership supports new industry collaborations
• 76% of researchers asked agreed that EU membership facilitated access to specialist skills