University of Aberdeen EU funding questions raised

The result of the EU referendum has raised questions about the future of more than £6m of European funding the University of Aberdeen currently receives, its principal has said.

Prof Sir Ian Diamond was speaking in the aftermath of the vote to leave the European Union.

He said the funds were difficult to get in the first place.

He also said the university had moved swiftly to calm any fears that any EU staff and students might have.

'Based on excellence'

Prof Diamond told BBC Scotland: "We get a lot of funding, over £6m a year, from the EU.

"We want to know that funding is secure and that we have a possibility to continue to apply for these funds, which are incredibly difficult to get and are based only on excellence and on the overall quality of one's proposal.

"We need to be able to know that over the next few years we can be developing applications in that way."

Asked to clarify what the potential loss of EU funding could mean to the institution, he declined to expand.