Last Monday we saw a raft of announcements from the new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, signalling an intent to refresh the UK’s R&D strategy and set out a longer-term vision.
Together the new Science and Technology Framework and the much-awaited final report from the Nurse review weigh in at over 180 pages, and there is a lot for the sector to digest.
In comparing the two documents there is a glaring omission in the government’s vision as articulated in the framework which Nurse has captured front and centre: the nature of our relationship with our European allies.
While the ten-point plan in the new framework includes a section on international opportunities, it only references G7 and G20 countries as key partners for the future of UK R&D. There is no mention of the hundreds of thousands of collaborative links UK universities and businesses have built up over many years with European partners, and beyond, through full participation in successive EU research funding programmes.
