Brexit Deal Paves Way for UK to Rejoin Horizon Europe Research Programme
Brexit Deal Paves Way for UK to Rejoin Horizon Europe Research Programme
UK scientists had been shut out of the multibillion-euro scheme amid drawn-out Brexit negotiations.

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UK scientists had been shut out of the multibillion-euro scheme amid drawn-out Brexit negotiations.
Negotiations on Horizon Europe dragged on - and UK-based researchers came up short.
Some of the brightest scientific minds are leaving the UK, as they lose access to European funding in the wake of Brexit, SkyNews has found.
Nusrat Ghani faces pressing issues such as the future of funding for Britain's researchers.
The UK government's plan to increase R&D spending requires a skilled workforce which its universities and research institutes will struggle to assemble, expert witnesses told the House of Lords' science and technology committee today. "The attractiveness of the UK as a destination for scientists might have decreased in recent years," said Maggie Dallman, vice president for international affairs and associate provost for academic partnerships at Imperial College London.
Britain has jeopardised research and made itself far less attractive to overseas scientists.
British foreign secretary triggers formal dispute proceedings with Brussels over British access to EU science programs.
Uncertainty in British politics is a headache for UK researchers
With the United Kingdom ever more likely to leave the European Union's science-funding programmes, an alternative has been proposed.
Academics forced to choose between staying in the UK and leaving for the EU say they were not given enough warning before having to make a crucial decision determining whether they keep life changing grants. Around 150 UK-based winners of European Research Council (ERC) grants have been put in a near impossible position because a wider rift between Brussels and London has stopped the UK from associating to Horizon Europe, the programme behind the ERC.
Move follows dispute over Northern Ireland protocol, as one academic says UK is going down a 'dark path'
Researchers are already moving to countries where it is easier to operate and collaborate.
The UK is working on a "bigger, better" rival to the European Research Council as part of an alternative to the Horizon Europe, in response to growing fears that the country will not associate to the framework programme.
Vice-chancellors ask both sides to work together to save the UK's role in a multi-billion-pound scheme.
Projects in jeopardy as EU revokes millions in grant offers after failure of trade talks
Figures suggest just a tenth of previous entrant numbers from some countries got a study visa.
Research and university associations from across Europe have sent a letter to the European Commission calling for the UK to become associated in Horizon Europe without delay.
Minister 'quite concerned' about delay to finalising UK's participation in €80bn Horizon Europe scheme
Universities in Europe 'strongly regret' that finalisation of association is still elusive 10 months after Brexit agreement.
In a major post-Brexit move, the UK government kicked off its own student mobility programme with an announcement that its Turing Scheme will fund over 40,000 students for education and training placements across 150 countries. According to the outcomes of the first funding round, 363 projects were approved to receive £96 million in grants to send students to Canada, Japan and the US, but also in several European countries.
Obstacles to finalising association agreements for EU's research programme now removed, say continental observers.
Vital international scientific work, including studies into how viruses spread, is being jeopardised by short-sighted cuts, says Prof Fiona Tomley
Thanks to the Brexit deal, it is likely that UK researchers will gain access to the Horizon Europe programme and EU research funding. Will this suffice for UK higher education institutions to return to pre-Brexit participation levels?