SO 13 FAMOUS scientists say research will be hurt if we leave the EU. What they are really feeling is that research funding will carry a greater amount of scrutiny from those that commission the work.

I have been engaged in R&D internationally in public and private sectors for most of my life. In semi retirement I am currently working on an EU project whose purpose is to rescue some value from the billions of Euros spent each year on research projects most of which had outputs with little or no impact.

In fact our universities and others are very pleased to get easy money and will generally support staying in. I would support this view too if the research commissioning and management process (European Commission) did it well. In fact there is typically little formal technical requirement or future work/exploitation plans in the contracts.

The projects are usually of little economic consequence and deliver poorly for the tax payer.

The European Commission seems to scatter seed corn ideas among a very mixed bunch of universities and businesses and apart from administrative box ticking takes no further interest in the work. A few pieces of research are done well and produce outputs that are carried forward; the vast majority languish with no use made of their outputs.

Our national research sponsoring bodies such as DECC, Innovate UK, and UK Research Councils, are generally more purposeful, better managed and hold the universities etc. more closely to account.

Brendan Webster

Carlton Road South

Weymouth