With Brexit now here, the UK Data Service reaffirms its commitment to continue to work closely with its partners in Europe.
The UK is leaving the European Union (EU) today and now enters into a transitional period during which the basis of a new relationship with the EU will be negotiated.
While this departure has caused some uncertainty, the message from the UK Data Service is that it remains committed to and proud of its role in enabling access to data resources for researchers across Europe.
The UK Data Service is also committed to continued collaboration with other social science data infrastructures across Europe, and it is understood there will be no significant changes to UK researchers’ access to European data resources. Our collaboration with CESSDA (Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives), which brings together social science data archives across Europe to promote the results of social science research and support national and international research and cooperation, will continue. The UK Data Archive, lead organisation of the UK Data Service, was a founding member of the original CESSDA in 1976, and an active collaborator in the formation of the new CESSDA ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium).
The team at the UK Data Service is also central to the ongoing development of the European Language Social Science Thesaurus (ELSST), a thesaurus user interface aimed at benefitting the wider CESSDA community.
Director of UK Data Archive and Service, Professor Matthew Woollard said: “We’re really encouraged that we can maintain full access to data for researchers in Europe, and expect that researchers in the UK will continue to have access to data for comparative research in the future.”
Meanwhile, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) announced this week that it will be leading on a new visa scheme called the Global Talent Visa, which will offer researchers and scientists fast tracked entry to the UK.
UKRI, funder of the UK Data Service, said there will be no cap on who can benefit. UKRI chief executive, Professor Sir Mark Walport said this announcement “further underlines the importance of research and innovation to the future success of the UK and the government’s continued commitment and investment. Working with the government, UK Research and Innovation is ensuring that the UK remains globally leading in these fields.”
The changes mean that, for the first time, UKRI will endorse applicants from the scientific and research community. This new scheme allows researchers and specialists who are named, or whose role is named, on a grant from an endorsed funder to apply for a fast track visa. Visit the UKRI website for further details.