FAQs on the UK's participation in Horizon Europe

• Confirmation of Associated Country status ensures that UK researchers will be able to apply for Horizon Europe and Copernicus funding as full beneficiaries, meaning that research entities will once again be funded directly by the EU rather than relying on funding provided by the UKRI guarantee. As a result:
  • UK researchers will be able to carry out European Research Council and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action projects in the UK while retaining their status as ERC or MSCA grantees. 
  • UK researchers can once again lead collaborative projects as coordinators. 
  • UK research entities will count towards the consortium eligibility requirements as one of the three required partners from EU Member States or Associated Countries (nb. consortia will still need one partner from an EU Member State).

The agreement, which still needs to be formally adopted by the UK-EU Specialised Committee on Union Programmes, will take effect on 1 January 2024. In practice, this means UK researchers will be treated as full beneficiaries for calls from the 2024 Work Programme (i.e. calls with 2024 in the call code). For calls in the 2023 Work Programme, UK researchers will continue to be covered by the UKRI guarantee, which has been extended to avoid any gap. The Horizon Europe Work Programmes can be found here.

The deal does not cover participation in Euratom, which was initially covered by the TCA. In the announcement on 7 September, the Government stated it will pursue a domestic fusion energy strategy instead of associating to the EU’s Euratom programme. This will involve close international collaboration, including with European partners, and a new, cutting-edge alternative programme, backed by up to £650m to 2027.

The UK will not make a financial contribution for the time that has been missed since the start of the programme in 2021. The Government has secured an additional commitment that the UK contribution will be capped if the UK pays in 16% more than it receives.

The Government published the Pioneer prospectus in April 2023 as a set of alternatives that would be implemented in case the UK decided not to continue to seek Associated Country status in Horizon Europe. At present there are no plans to set up alternatives now that UK Associated Country status has been confirmed. However, many of the proposals contained with the Pioneer prospectus align with longstanding UUKi asks to strengthen international R&I partnerships in addition to association to EU Framework Programmes.

Projects which have already been funded via the UKRI financial guarantee will remain UKRI projects through to their conclusion. This does not preclude researchers from applying for and receiving EU funding from future calls.

Data shows that UK participation in Horizon Europe has declined in recent years amid the uncertainty over the UK’s eligibility. Now that we expect this uncertainty has been resolved definitively for the duration of the programme, UUKi will be actively promoting UK participation in the programme, both in the UK and with global partners. You can find information about upcoming UUKi events on our website.