Ministers should start the transition stage of the UK’s “Plan B” alternative to Horizon Europe immediately even while the country’s association to Europe’s flagship research initiative remains in the balance, a leading policy expert has said.
Graeme Reid, chair of science and research policy at UCL, was asked by Whitehall in 2019 to devise, alongside Royal Society president Sir Adrian Smith, a potential post-Brexit replacement for Horizon Europe if UK membership was not possible He said he welcomed the long-awaited publication of Plan B’s details but was concerned by a lack of information in key areas, especially the failure to say when measures intended to “protect and stabilise the sector” will kick in.
