Upcoming vote on Scottish independence provokes questions over science funding

BBC : On 18 September Scotland will vote on a referendum regarding whether it should leave the UK and become an independent country. Among those against independence are medical and scientific researchers, led by the presidents of the Royal Society, the British Academy, and the Academy of Medical Sciences, who wrote in a joint letter to the Times of London. “We believe that if separation were to occur,” the letter said, “research not only in Scotland but also the rest of the UK would suffer.” They also said that separation would damage scientific collaborations. The Scottish government, however, maintains its commitment “to funding research, to free access to universities for residents and to attracting international students,” according to Bryan MacGregor of the University of Aberdeen. That commitment is spelled out in a report published by the Scottish government in April.