Renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking and a number of Indian-origin scientists were among 150 academics who came out in favour of Britain. (File Photo)
Renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking and a number of Indian-origin scientists were among 150 academics who came out in favour of Britain staying within the European Union today.
In a letter to 'The Times' newspaper, a total of 150 fellows of the UK's Royal Society signed up to voice their strong support for Britain staying within the EU in the lead up to an in-out referendum on June 23.
Shankar Balasubramanian from the field of chemistry, Harshad Badeshia representing metallurgy, Partha Dasgupta from economics and KJ Patel from molecular biology are the Indian-origin names on the letter, which warns of "disaster for UK science" if Britain were to exit the 28-nation economic bloc or so-called Brexit.
The Royal Society, Britain's premier scientific institution with 1,600 fellows, told Press Trust Of India that the letter did not reflect the society's official stand and hence its Indian-origin president, Nobel laureate Sir Venki Ramakrishnan, was not among the signatories.
"The Royal Society fellows have signed the letter in their personal capacity," a spokesperson said.
The letter backed by 'A Brief History of Time' author Hawking, reads, "The EU has boosted UK science in two crucial ways. First, increased funding has raised greatly the level of European science as a whole and of the UK in particular because we have a competitive edge."
"Second, we now recruit many of our best researchers from continental Europe, including younger ones who have obtained EU grants and have chosen to move with them here. If the UK leaves the EU and there is a loss of freedom of movement of scientists between the UK and Europe it will be a disaster for UK science and universities," it says.
"Investment in science is as important for the long-term prosperity and security of the UK as investment in infrastructure projects, farming or manufacturing; and the free movement of scientists is as important for science as free trade is for market economics," the letter adds.
The letter was organised by Professor Alan Fersht, a pioneer of protein science, and signed by 70 per cent of Royal Society fellows from the University of Cambridge.