UK scientists dropped from EU projects because of post-Brexit funding fears

It's always a tragedy when political maneuvering gets in the way of good science, and you know, advancing the human race.

How so?

A few months ago I attended the "Quantum Europe" conference in Amsterdam, where the new EU flagship project on quantum computing was kicked off and celebrated. With a total funding volume of 1 BN € this initiative is huge, and there are several British universities and research centers involved. Now with the BREXIT it's unclear whether they will be able to still participate in this project, which will start in 2018. And if they can't it will be at least doubtful if the UK government will allot them a similar amount of funding for quantum technologies...

I can only start to imagine how disappointed these researchers must be now, as winning the EU flagship was such a huge deal to everyone involved and took years of preparation from dozens of industry & research partners. It really is a shame.

Funding for science in the EU is already very tight. European research groups will avoid starting new collaborations with British groups, if it makes funding even less likely...