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As the potentially historic EU referendum draws closer and voters consider whether Britain should leave or remain part of the European Union, academics at our University have been contributing to the public debate with opinion pieces and media comment.

A has been set up to collect together all the University's news, information and thought pieces on the upcoming vote, and you can read about our latest contributions to the debate below.

Several academics and staff at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ have .

Professor Iain Gillespie, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, was interviewed by ITV Central for a Also interviewed was student Jackie Ferdinand, who is an EU student studying at Leicester.

Professor Ali al-Nowaihi from the Department of Economics has written an article for Think: Leicester on .

Dr Chris Grocott from the School of Management has written an article for The Conversation discussing .

Dr Simona Guerra from the Department of Politics and International Relations has written .

Leicester economist and Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen Hall was among co-signatories to .

Liz Kendall, Leicester West and Labour MP, discussed how the University’s in the House of Commons.

President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Boyle has joined 95 other UK university Vice-Chancellors in outlining why universities are stronger in Europe in .

Our President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Boyle joins Professor Panicos Demetriades and Dr Sara Lemos from our Department of Economics; Dr Mark Langan, Dr Simona Guerra and Dr Tara McCormack from the Department of Politics and International Relations; Dr Lisa Rodgers and Pascale Lorber from Leicester Law School; and Dr Benjamin Hopkins from the School of Management in produced by the University's News Centre:

The University and our Students’ Union have spearheaded campaigns to

Professor Paul Boyle has recently been speaking publicly about the benefits of EU membership to universities and science in general:

• .
• about science in the UK and debating the ins and outs of being in or out of the EU.
• Professor Boyle was one of 103 university leaders signing an .
• Nature feature by Professor Boyle on European research collaboration (from 2013)
• to demonstrate the benefits of EU funding
• Podcast interview with Liz Kendall and Professor Paul Boyle:

Academics at Leicester have also been commenting on aspects of the European Union and Brexit debate, tacking a range of issues in the public eye and a few topics you may have overlooked:

• Professor Ali al-Nowaihi from the Department of Economics has written an article for Think: Leicester.

• UK medical sciences if Britain leaves the European Union, according to Professor Andrew Tobin from the .
• Dr Sara Lemos from the formed part of an expert panel for on the arguments for and against leaving the European Union.
• The Professor Katja Ziegler has written a piece for The Conversation on from the perspective of international law.

• Professor Clare Anderson from the has discussing some of the positive benefits of EU membership and how it is vital in securing our influence across Europe and all over the world.
• Panicos Demetriades, Professor of Financial Economics and former governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus, explains why he thinks British leaving the EU "will impact massively on the economy, on jobs and on the prospects of the country" in a

• Comedian and political activist on 16 June as part of the Stand up for Europe campaign.
• A Leicester project to help treatment of airway diseases is among
• Leicester Law School Lecturer Pascale Lorber explains in a podcast for the News Centre.
• Dr Sara Lemos has also given a podcast interview to the University's News Centre on

• Professors Jo Story and Mark Jobling from our and were interviewed by BBC Radio 4 on research into diasporas and DNA analysis which adds new facets to the discussion on European identity. You can (from 23m 20s).
• Dr Chris Grocott from the School of Management has written an article for The Conversation discussing how leaving the EU would be disastrous for the local economy of Gibraltar.
• Professor Panicos Demetriades from the Department of Economic highlighted the strong economic argument for migration and the implications of leaving the European Union in an interview with .

• Professor Demetriades also on Brexit and what it could mean for the future of the UK’s economy.
• Researchers from Leicester Law School and the School of Management discussed in a piece for Think:Leicester.
• Professor Bernard Ryan from the Leicester Law School discusses in a piece for The Conversation.
• Dr Simona Guerra from the Department of Politics and International Relations discusses the on Democratic Audit UK.
• Dr Chris Grocott from the School of Management asks ‘How Does it Look from Gibraltar?’ and considers the impact of Brexit on the UK overseas territory in a Staff Blog.
• Dr Chris Wilkins, Dr Hugh Busher and Dr Tony Lawson from the School of Education in the context of discourses on the nature of the European Union and European identity at a conference in 2009.

More links will be added here in the run-up to the referendum.