Congratulating SRUC and the University of Edinburgh

That the Parliament congratulates Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and the University of Edinburgh, which it understands have come out on top in a national league table of research power in agriculture, food and veterinary sciences; understands that the assessment by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) looks at research power as an overarching measure of research quality and volumes; further understands that SRUC and the University have increased both the quality and size of the joint submission since the last REF in 2014, highlighting what it sees as the scale and excellence of their combined research capabilities; calls on the Scottish Government to restore funding to Scotland's further and higher education, and urges the Scottish Government to allow gene editing research to take place in Scotland, so that Scottish institutions and farmers can take advantage of this technology.