When voters in the UK decided by a narrow margin in 2016 to leave the European Union (EU), it was clear to me that, despite all the turbulence that lay ahead, the country simply had to remain part of the EU's €95bn Horizon scientific research programme. Over the years, the UK has done incredibly well from its membership of Horizon, not only taking the lead on numerous multinational research projects but also securing far more money for research than it ever contributed. The statistic that always caught my eye was that, in the seven years to 2013, UK scientists won €1.7bn in grants from the EU's European Research Council - more than any other country.
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