British universities must prepare to make the case for a separate science deal to be negotiated swiftly if Brexit talks between the UK and the European Union end in no deal, a sector leader has said.

Vivienne Stern, director of Universities UK International, said the hope would be that the UK and the EU ¡°get back round the table pretty quickly¡± in the event of no deal to make individual agreements on a range of issues, but she had not heard ¡°any concrete reassurance that that is going to happen¡±.

¡°In fact, what I seem to be hearing from UK government is: ¡®Don¡¯t imagine if we leave on the 31st?[December] without an agreement we¡¯re going to keep negotiating afterwards.¡¯ That is really quite horrifying because they would have to keep negotiating, surely ¨C not to extend the transition period, but there will be a whole host of issues where we need agreement,¡± she told the House of Lords¡¯ European Union Services Sub-Committee.

However, Ms Stern said that in?the event of a no-deal scenario, universities would have to persuade both the UK and the EU that participation in Brussels¡¯ Horizon Europe funding programme was an area where they ¡°should try to come together quite quickly¡± to establish an agreement.

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Catherine Guinard, policy and advocacy manager at the Wellcome Trust, said the higher education sector would be in a ¡°very complicated scenario¡± if there was no deal as there was not a precedent for a science and innovation deal between the EU and another country that included Horizon association without a broader free-trade deal or bilateral agreement.

¡°If we find ourselves in a no-deal scenario where there is no broader deal with the EU and there¡¯s no precedent, it¡¯s going to be a much harder slog to agree a deal for science,¡± she said during the committee¡¯s first public evidence session as part of its inquiry into the future UK-EU relationship on research and education.

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But Ms Stern added that there could be an upside to a no-deal scenario, referencing the fact that Switzerland lost access to Horizon Europe because it ¡°offended a broader treaty¡± in regards to freedom of movement with Croatia.

¡°If you¡¯ve got that kind of framework structure ¨C where something that goes wrong in another area that has nothing to do with science ends up making collaboration in science impossible ¨C it would be better for us if it was decoupled,¡± she said.

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com