European scientists and institutions have access to 80 billion dollars of funding from Horizon Europe. Britain agreed to join the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement TCA over seven years so the science community could access those funds and help form long-term fellowships and international industrial collaborations for UK universities and researchers.
The UK has had its formal association delayed until it resolves the Northern Ireland protocol andBrexit dispute, even though it was part of the TCA and non-EU countries still allowed to join. Science Minister George Freeman says the UK has a trick up its sleeves despite science leaders and key industry voices sounding the alarm at the serious harm the delay is causing British science. In an opinion piece for Research Professional News, Freeman wrote: If the EU stands in our way, we are ready for a seamless transition to something just as good, or better. Instead of partnering with the EU, he said that we could look at different partnerships to strengthen Britain's science sector.
He said that in the long term, we would establish an ambitious offer that delivers many of the advantages of the Horizon association along with additional benefits of global participation. Partnerships with the European research community will be the core of our international research offer, but we are looking to strengthen other relationships, including in the Indo-Pacific and North America. This comes as Liz Truss, who became chief Brexit negotiator after Lord David Frost resigned, was urged to strike a deal with the EU to salvage Britain's involvement in Horizon Europe. Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, told BBC News: "When the agreement on UK participation in the world's biggest science funding programme is ready to sign, it's going to be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory." Sir Jeremy doesn't seem convinced that a plan B would be enough to match horizon Europe.