Loss of £1.6bn fund further threatens 鈥渟cience superpower鈥� ambition
Our CEO, Dr Helen Pain, reacts to the earmarked for Horizon Europe or UK alternatives.
Withdrawing this funding undermines the Government's ambitions to be a ‘science superpower’ and ‘innovation nation’. The Government must explain what has happened to this funding and invest it in science and innovation via other routes if it is to achieve its ambitions and provide much-needed confidence to the sector.
Global collaboration leads to the cutting-edge science discoveries and technologies that will tackle global crises and improve health and wellbeing for everyone – £1.6bn to enable that collaboration is an investment in the UK’s future, and withdrawing it could be a serious mistake.
We hear loudly and clearly from our UK community and those they collaborate with in the EU that UK association is the best outcome for the chemical sciences. If this is not possible, there need to be clear, long-term alternatives to Horizon Europe – and these must deliver the same combination of benefits for both UK researchers and the UK more widely. We have set this out in our policybriefing on ‘A UK alternative package to Horizon Europe that works for the chemical sciences’.
Making the chemical sciences鈥� voice heard
If you want to share evidence on this topic, please send it to our policy team on the form on the left of this page.
We will continue to make the case to the UK Government and Parliament for UK association to Horizon Europe, whilst being mindful of both the economic and financial situation and the expected impacts of inflation on the research base (as well as the rest of the economy).