As a Professor at the University of Birmingham Medical School, I see every day how vital international collaboration is for science and medicine. But the future of British science is under threat. Without immediate government action, there will be long-term damage to UK biomedical research, undermining the NHS and hampering our battle against COVID-19.
 
21st century science is built on teamwork and collaboration. The UK has an amazing reputation for the diversity of its scientific community and the quality, quantity and global reach of its scientific output. Scientific research underpins our NHS, gives UK industries their competitive edge and is essential for tackling COVID-19 and other huge challenges, including climate change.
 
If the UK finally leaves the EU without a deal on December 31st, the effect on science and the NHS is likely to be catastrophic. In January 2021, there will suddenly be major barriers to clinical trials and other essential collaborations with European partners, exclusion from essential databases and loss of access to over £1 billion per annum of EU research funding.
 
We are all engaged in fighting COVID-19 and the close link between scientific research and the national interest is demonstrated on a daily basis. Across the world, teams of scientists are working together to develop tests, vaccines and treatments that ensure our health and wellbeing. Now is not the time to put this work at risk by erecting new barriers.
 
Along with many colleagues, I ask the government immediately to take action that allows us to negotiate a new deal for British science: this deal must protect the cross-border, collaborative nature of our research and preserve the funding on which life-saving science depends. Non-EU countries such as Switzerland, Norway and Israel already have such deals. So why is the UK government so reluctant to act?
 
We can’t tackle the huge global challenges we face in isolation. Whatever the political relationship between the UK and the EU in the future, scientists must be able to work together across borders