UK Participation in Horizon Europe
UK joins Horizon Europe through a new agreement with the EU
The UK and the European Commission have now agreed on the UK's re-entry into the Horizon Europe programme, with the UK to fully participate in the Horizon Europe programme on the same terms as other associated countries, including leading consortia as project coordinators.
The new arrangements kick in with the 2024 Work Programmes and will continue through to the end of the Horizon Europe programme in 2027. Any 2024 calls opening this year are also included. Association will not take place until 1 January 2024, but since calls starting now have closing dates after that date, UK researchers can apply for all future Horizon Europe bids and tenders as an Associated Country. Transitional measures will continue to apply to calls from the 2023 Work Programmes, with the UK continuing to provide funding for these under the UK Guarantee.
The UK is also associating to the Copernicus Earth-observation programme and will also have access to the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking services, however it will not be associating to the EU's Euratom programme and will instead pursue a domestic fusion energy strategy.
Please note that the UK is currently eligible to apply for Horizon Europe grants, with successful applications covered by the UK Government through the UKRI Guarantee for calls with deadlines to the end of September 2023. The UKRI Guarantee will be extended to cover all remaining 2023 Work Programme Calls.
The sign-off on the UK’s membership of Horizon Europe represents a major step forward for UK research and innovation, ending months of deadlock in UK-EU negotiations, allowing UK institutions access to the £85bn research programme and paving the path to rebuilding EU partnerships. In light of this news, we advise encouraging academics to continue, or to restart or begin applying to Horizon Europe.
View all Horizon Europe calls and their work programmes on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. For advice and guidance please contact .
See the government announcement on the Gov.uk webpage.
See also the government explainer on UK Association to Horizon Europe and the Copernicus programmeLink opens in a new window.
Overview
If a Horizon Europe call includes the year '2023' in the Call Identifier, e.g. 'HORIZON-MSCA-2023-SE-01-01' it is part of the 2023 Work Programme (WP) and will be funded under the UKRI Guarantee. This also applies to 2023 WP calls with deadlines in 2024. UK entities are not eligible to lead consortia under these calls. Projects already funded under the UKRI Guarantee will continue to be funded by the guarantee for the duration of the project.
If a Horizon Europe call includes the year '2024', in the Call Identifier, e.g. 'ERC-2024-SyG', it is part of the 2024 WP and will be covered by the Association agreement. This also applies to 2024 Work Programme calls opening this year, even where they have deadlines in 2023. UK entities are eligible to lead consortia under these calls.
The UK will continue to remain an Associated Contry to Horizon Europe for the remainder of the Horizon Europe programme, due to end in 2027.