What’s going on in the UK: 17-30 March

This week: sanctions on Russia, academic spinouts, Scottish R&D and more

Russia sanctions

The UK government announced on 27 March it was suspending publicly funded research and innovation collaborations with Russian universities and companies linked to the Russian state. The aim of the new measures, announced a month after the business department started a “rapid” review of its R&D ties with Russia, is to hit the Russian state, and individuals and organisations with strong links to the Kremlin, but not to sanction individual Russian scientists or innovators with benign research interests. The government also announced a £3 million fellowship scheme for Ukrainian academics, to be administered through the British Academy.