UK researchers are already feeling the effects of the so-called Brexit referendum last month in which the UK voted to leave the European Union, the Guardian's Ian Sample reports.
A survey conducted by the Guardian of Russell Group universities — 24 public research universities in the UK — found that some British researchers have been asked to step down from leadership positions of EU-funded projects or leave projects all together, Sample writes. He notes that UK researchers are "considered a financial liability."
While some universities surveyed noted anecdotal claims that UK researchers were being left off EU projects shortly after the vote, they've since seen harder evidence, the Guardian says. This is something UK researchers feared would occur in the aftermath of the vote.
For instance, Sample reports that a EU project officer recommended that UK partners be taken off a consortium since the UK's funding contribution wasn't assured, and if the UK partners remained on the project, the officer cautioned that the project, which has a projected January 2017 start date, would have be pushed back until the UK has a new deal in place with Europe.