European partners ‘won’t hold grudges’ despite Horizon impasse

The chances of UK-based scientists winning substantial funds from Horizon Europe are unlikely to be diminished by their two-year exclusion from the research programme, senior academics have said.

Hopes that the UK would soon rejoin the €95 billion (£81 billion) funding scheme were raised when it emerged that officials from Whitehall and Brussels had hammered out a draft deal on the cost of British participation for the remaining five years of the seven-year framework. UK prime minister Rishi Sunak was due to meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at a Nato summit last week, but no announcement had been made at the time of writing.

A major sticking point was believed to concern Britain’s two-year absence from Horizon and whether this hiatus would hamper the ability of its researchers to win large research grants by leading institutional networks, thereby helping the UK to claw back most of the funding it sends to Horizon.

However, Carsten Welsch, head of physics at the University of Liverpool, who has led several European Union-funded Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions doctoral networks, said he did not envisage any lingering resentment towards UK-based researchers.

“If this barrier [of non-membership] is removed, we will be welcomed back to the discussion table as an equal partner,” said Professor Welsch.

“We have to rebuild trust with collaborators, but this can only start at the highest level with the Horizon commitment. At an individual level, it is up to individual researchers to rebuild trust within their own networks, but I don’t think it will be an extended and painful process.”

At present, the UK’s liminal status meant that its researchers were “second-class passengers” in Horizon consortia who “cannot assume any responsibility” instead of leading these international projects as they had done before, continued Professor Welsch, who called UK scientists “tolerated satellites” to Horizon projects rather than fully engaged partners.

“I can’t tell you how painful it is to come up with a really good idea, write it down and have funding approved, but then see someone else take over because the UK isn’t part of Horizon,” he said, describing his recent loss of a Marie Skłodowska Curie doctoral network despite having done “95 per cent of the work” to win funding.

While the return to Horizon was unlikely to lead to more grant funding for universities – thanks to the UK Research and Innovation guarantee covering successful bids – its long-term significance was huge, Professor Welsch added. “If you’re planning the next stage of a project, you can’t say you’ll be part of it unless you’re in Horizon – the Pioneer alternative was incredibly creative, but its funding isn’t guaranteed and it might only be for a few years. It’s very different from being part of a €95 billion programme,” he said.

Kenny Coventry, professor of psychology at the University of East Anglia, who has had Horizon funding since 2012, said the two-year hiatus had “caused a lot of damage” but he believed “very supportive international networks” would welcome the return of British researchers if full membership was agreed soon.

“I’m not sure they would hold out for another year – if we have to wait until November for a decision, that’s a problem because new funding rounds start,” added Professor Coventry, who said he had delayed several funding applications for two years because he would have been prevented from coordinating projects under the current associate membership.

“These big collaborative networks are so important for research – one of my projects is running in 29 languages with dozens of institutions. That’s only going to happen with Horizon – you cannot get that scale with any other scheme,” he said.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com