The UK and the European Commission finally reached an agreement for the full participation of UK-based researchers and organisations in Horizon Europe, the most ambitious Research and Innovation funding programme to date.
This puts an end to almost three years of restricted access since the start of the programme and seven years of debilitating uncertainty since the Brexit vote.
This also puts the UK fallback Plan B or Pioneer programme for international research collaboration back in the drawer, where it belongs if I may say. As outlined in last year’s HEPI Policy Note on Plan B, a UK go-it-alone alternative can hardly replicate the attractiveness and reach of an EU-wide programme.
A look back at the mostly non-financial but critical costs of this long period of uncertainty.
