[Editorial] Science advice for Europe (Science)

On 23 July, exactly 1 month after Britain`s momentous decision to leave the European Union, around 4500 scientists and friends of science will assemble in Manchester, UK, for the opening of the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF), Europe`s largest interdisciplinary research conference. The vote for Britain`s exit (`Brexit`)--with worrying repercussions for European science and wider society--and questions about the plans of the new UK Prime Minister Theresa May, will inevitably cast a shadow over proceedings. But as Jerzy Langer, chair of ESOF`s program committee, argues, the meeting has now acquired a sharper purpose: to demonstrate at a time of acute uncertainty that `we, the scientists, are one big family, whose rules and values extend beyond political and geographic borders.` Author: James Wilsdon