Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, has strongly supported the campaign to remain in the European Union, stating that he “cannot identify a single persuasive reason to recommend leaving Europe”.

He said that he felt “European to [his] very core” and emphasised that the university sector “has done quite well out of our European engagement”.

Borysiewicz, himself the son of Polish refugees, warned in the closing keynote address at the International Higher Education Forum on Tuesday that thousands of students studying in Europe were at risk if the UK severed its ties.

In his address, in which he defended the motion “we are international; but we are European first,” he said: “no matter what Brexit campaigners would wish us to think, we are inextricably linked to Europe.”

Borysiewicz emphasised that it was only an “accident of geology” that separated the UK from the European continent.

“Remember that there was a time when these islands were part of the same continental landmass […] and the Thames, the Seine and the Rhine all flowed into the same river basin”, he said.

The Vice-Chancellor also stressed the importance of partnerships with academics in Europe, highlighting that 60 per cent of scientific research from British institutions had a European co-author.

He did recognise that Europe and its institutions are “messy”, but said that “they’re also the best we have”.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, continued by saying: “Excluding ourselves from a system that allows the mobility of staff and students, losing that ability to attract the brightest minds from our nearest-neighbouring countries and from our nearest collaborators, would impoverish us – in every sense.”

He also raised questions as to whether the UK could manage major health initiatives given that in the past it has relied on collaboration with other European nations in working towards the treatment of diseases like Ebola.

In February, Borysiewicz joined 102 other university leaders in writing an open letter urging voters to reflect upon the “vital role the EU plays in supporting our world-class universities”.

Last October, Varsity reported on the warning he gave that Brexit could disadvantage British scientific research and development.

Varsity also reported that he has argued that the success of British universities should not be put at risk in the name of “short-term electoral success” fuelled by a “political debate on immigration ... based on fear and emotion”.

Writing in the Financial Times on Tuesday, the Universities Minister Jo Johnson said: “Anyone who wants to know whether we should leave the EU should speak to Boris.

“I mean, of course, the vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz.”