UK Horizon alternative aims to make Brussels pick up the phone

The Westminster government is “still pushing” and “still hopeful” on associating to the European Union’s Horizon Europe research programme, but forthcoming plans to detail a UK alternative stepping up the nation’s global science role could nudge Brussels to “pick up the phone”, according to the science minister.

George Freeman made the comments in a speech hosted by the thinktank Onward, fleshing out a vision for the UK to be a “science superpower and innovation nation” in a future where science will be “as key to our geopolitical security as our military capabilities”.

Talks on association to Horizon Europe – which offers funding for international collaborations as well as for prestigious European Research Council grants recognising outstanding researchers – have stalled as the European Commission ties the issue to the impasse on resolving the Northern Ireland protocol.