United Kingdom

With EU relations patched up, UK researchers and policymakers are planning the next moves. There are no firm plans for AI legislation, but an international collaboration fund set up during the wilderness years will continue, and there will be a focus on South American links

With association finally signed off, the UK is making moves to boost its participation in the EU research programme. To get things moving, the government will offer young scientists up to £10K to help with grant applications and is launching a marketing blitz to let researchers across Europe know the UK is back in the game

Review of technology transfer calls for greater clarity on spin-out terms, but clears universities of cashing-in

Details of the association agreement show the UK may only get a refund due to low participation in Horizon if it rolls over into the FP10 successor programme, due to start in 2028. And there are pending negotiations on the terms on which the UK rejoins the Copernicus earth observation system

London now has a firmer guarantee it will get money back if UK researchers fail to win enough grants from the research programme. But the deal is still lopsided - in the EU’s favour

As most breathe a sigh of relief, a leading MEP questions concession it is claimed could allow the UK to win grants over and above its contribution. The UK is not rejoining the Erasmus study abroad scheme or lifting post-Brexit visa requirements

After multiple false dawns, London and Brussels have finally agreed a deal to allow the UK to rejoin. The UK will also join the Copernicus space programme, but is out of Euratom and the ITER fusion project

Christian Ehler worries about reopening the Brexit deal and jeopardising association negotiations with Japan and Canada. His intervention comes as the UK looks set to delay any decision on Horizon association until after the summer

After a two-year stand-off, followed by a wave of optimism when the stalemate over Northern Ireland trading arrangements finally ended back in March, a deal on UK association seems to be getting closer. So what took so long?