Scottish independence could jeopardise scientific breakthroughs and curtail the careers of young scientists, according to a bacteriologist who is spearheading a group of academics who will campaign to keep the UK together.
Academics Together, a new arm of the pro-UK Better Together campaign, launches today at a cardiovascular research centre in Glasgow that receives nearly a quarter of the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) entire UK budget.
Emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, Professor Hugh Pennington, will give a speech hailing the UK’s “large, highly integrated, internationally renowned UK research base”.
Better Together chief Alistair Darling will point out the “disproportionately high share of UK research funding” Scottish facilities receive for a country with less than a tenth of the UK’s population.
Ahead of the launch, at the BHF Cardiovascular Research Centre at Glasgow University, Mr Pennington said: “I would hate to see our world-leading reputation for innovation and discovery put at risk. I would hate to see the next big breakthrough jeopardised or see the chances of a young researcher curtailed.
“The absence of barriers allows not just funding and people, but ideas and innovation, to flow freely across borders.
“I don’t want to put the success of Scotland’s world-leading research at risk. I believe that the best way to build on that success is to continue working together as part of the UK.”