As many members will already be aware, the majority of voters in yesterday’s referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union (EU) have chosen to leave.
In light of this decision, it will be crucial for British scientists to maintain healthy and productive collaborations with our European colleagues, and continue to build the strongest science within the broader international community.
The British Pharmacological Society is proud to be a global community at the heart of pharmacology: a fifth of our membership is international, our journals have a global readership, and we represent scientists from more than 60 countries worldwide. As part of the Society’s charitable mission to promote and advance the whole spectrum of pharmacology, we are committed to fulfilling the needs of our members regardless of geography.
Some of you will have had the opportunity to read the Society’s summary of the areas of the broader pharmacological landscape connected with the EU. In the development of this resource, it became apparent that there are aspects of the relationship between the UK and EU relevant to pharmacology that will now take a significant amount of time to fully resolve. The Society is well-placed to represent its members, and to share their considerable expertise with the UK and EU governments in the development of new policy – indeed we will be at the UK Parliament next week to contribute to an event discussing ‘Science after the referendum: what next?’ with MPs and peers.
In the meantime, if there are new ways for the Society to support our members during this period, please do not hesitate to let us know by getting in touch with our Membership Manager Paul Tizard (paul.tizard@bps.ac.uk).
David Webb MD DSc FRSE FMedSci FBPhS
President, British Pharmacological Society
