Science and research - summary leaflet
Published 13 March 2014
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Scotland: Science and research
Being part of the UK supports a worldleading and thriving research base in Scotland.
Research funds and infrastructure
In 2012-13, Scotland secured 13.1% of research funds from UK Research Councils – better than Scotland’s GDP share (8%) or population share (8.4%).
Researchers across the UK benefit from access to world leading infrastructure.
Independence would result in a split in the research environment
This could make the flow of funding, people and knowledge more difficult.
Thriving research base across the UK
The UK’s domestic environment for research supports an excellent and thriving research base across the UK
As part of the UK, universities and other higher education institutions in Scotland perform strongly. The UK is ranked second only to the US in terms of world-class research. The UK has 31 institutions in the world’s top 200 universities, with five located in Scotland. Scotland’s share of the world’s top 1% most cited publications is on an upward trend.
Free flow of funding, ideas and people
The UK’s coordinated research framework allows funding, ideas and people to flow unhindered across the UK in the pursuit of excellence. This framework includes:
- Shared policy guidelines, rules and regulatory arrangements providing a consistent basis on which research collaborations are built.
- A common framework, which is internationally recognised, for assessing research excellence, vital for securing international collaborations and funding from businesses.
- A strong science and innovation network in British Embassies and consulates across the world.
- Scotland benefits from UK-wide research funding. In 2012-13, Scotland secured 13.1% of UK Research Council funding (£257 million) – better than Scotland’s GDP share (8%) or population share (8.4%).
In addition to public funding, the UK’s charitable organisations fund significant amounts of research in Scotland: approximately 14% of funding raised by members of the Association of Medical Research Charities in 2011 was spent on research in Scotland.
World leading research
Researchers across the UK benefit from access to world leading infrastructure. Researchers benefit both within the UK (for instance from advanced computing) and around the world through UK membership of international facilities (such as the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN)). Sharing these costs makes them more affordable.
Scottish independence would split the research framework. The Scottish Government would need to raise and allocate research funds. Collaboration between researchers would take place across an international border.
In the event of independence, UK Research Councils would set priorities and distribute funding – but only for the continuing UK
The government of an independent Scotland would need to decide how much to spend on research and how to allocate this.
An independent Scotland would need to consider its research infrastructure requirements and negotiate these with others. The new terms might not be on the same basis as for research in the continuing UK.
An independent Scotland might seek to share arrangements and facilities with the continuing UK but there is little international precedent for this. Relationships between the continuing UK and an independent Scotland would become international relationships which could risk the ease of collaborations.