Brexit could harm research for a generation, says Leverhulme head

Brexit may set the UK’s research base back by a generation regardless of the type of exit, the director of the Leverhulme Trust has said.

Gordon Marshall, the trust’s director and former chief executive of the Economic and Social Research Council, issued the warning in the trust’s 2018 annual review.

“Just as the UK has been the beneficiary in the last few decades of the openness of Britain to research talent and new ideas from other countries, so our funding has gone to multitalented and multinational individuals and teams who have been attracted by this country’s inclusiveness, and to a truly liberal academic research environment,” said Marshall.