Top Horizon 2020 beneficiaries in the UK unnerved by referendum results

With the vast majority of scientists and academics campaigning for Britain to remain inside the EU, the vote for Brexit came as a huge shock, and universities are now facing up to multiplying uncertainties, over future EU funding and whether EU students, faculty and staff will still be able to live, study and work in the UK.

With the top six universities alone leading or partners in Horizon 2020 projects worth almost €500 million, scientists have been looking for confirmation that these projects are safe and that the UK will have access to future EU research programmes.  

Carlos Moedas, the EU commissioner for research and innovation, and British Prime Minister David Cameron, have moved to quell anxiety by insisting existing Horizon 2020 contracts are safe. “Until the end of the negotiations, UK remains a member of the EU and therefore with all the rights and obligations, including in relation to research programmes like Horizon 2020,” Moedas said.

It has been rumoured that some UK academics were asked by EU colleagues to take their names off joint funding applications, but this has not been confirmed by universities.

Oxford University said research support teams will be actively reviewing funding bids, and will take guidance from UK government and relevant agencies on future eligibility and new opportunities.

Cambridge University has received more than €110 million from Horizon 2020 projects, University College London more than €100 million, Oxford University €93 million, Imperial College London €76 million, Edinburgh University €64 million, and Manchester University €42 million.

Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, Imperial and Edinburgh are in the top 15 European organisations by number of Horizon 2020 projects.

EU contribution to UK research

The UK contributed nearly €5.4 billion to EU research projects from 2007 to 2013, but received nearly €8.8 billion back in the same period.

UK universities are involved in more Horizon 2020 projects than those in any other country in Europe, and there is no doubt that the country’s research and innovation sector has a tremendous stake in EU research funding.

To give a few examples, Cambridge is a major global player in the field of biomedical research and is the host of ADIPOA-2, a Horizon 2020 project aimed at developing stem cell therapies for osteoarthritis, an incurable and debilitating disease that affects over 70 million Europeans.

Cambridge, Oxford, King’s College London, Edinburgh and Manchester are in the EU-funded Human Brain Project, an international initiative that is boosting research in the fields of neuroscience, computing and brain-related medicine.

Imperial is one of the partners in PhenoMeNal, a medtech project hosted by the Molecular Biology Laboratory in Germany, and is participating in other Horizon 2020 projects in the field of genetic technologies, such as iHealth-T2D, and MOCHA.

Horizon 2020 projects at UCL include studying the impact of shale gas exploitation and fracking, cancer prediction, and HIV therapeutic vaccines.

Edinburgh coordinates the Fortissimo project, an initiative that enables European SMEs to be more competitive globally. The university also hosts an ERC-funded project aimed at identifying targets for cancer therapy.

Even though universities have been reassured by Moedas and Cameron that all running projects will go on, many researchers are still worried about their status and the future of the projects they are working on.

Mitigating the effects of Brexit

Negotiations for the next EU framework programme are about to begin, and it is as yet unknown what role the UK will play, if any. Many are speculating that the UK might be able to strike a deal on access on similar terms to Switzerland and Norway. However, that requires free movement of labour to be maintained, a condition to which the leave campaign - having highlighted the need for immigration control - is unlikely to agree.

Universities in the UK will, “Campaign very hard to keep the UK in Horizon 2020 and in the next framework programme,” said Luke Georghiou, vice president for research and innovation at Manchester University, and champion for the EuroScience Open Forum, which will see 4,000 members of Europe’s research community arriving in the city next month. 

The top concern of universities in the UK is to convince the government to keep education and research at the top of its priority list, and to “Secur[e] opportunities for our researchers and students to access vital pan-European programmes,” said Julia Goodfellow, president of Universities UK.

This view is echoed by Timothy O'Shea, principal & vice-chancellor of Edinburgh University. “Our priority will be to maintain our research and exchange partnerships across Europe,” he said.

O’Shea is confident that even after the Brexit takes effect, the university will be in a solid position and will be able to face the challenges ahead. But for now the university’s responsibility is to, “Work with government and other bodies, to ensure a smooth and successful transition to a productive future for the university and all of our students and staff.”

Maintaining relationships and the benefits of cooperation with the EU is also important, and universities should start acting to prevent long-term negative impacts which can “produce more worries and concerns,” Georghiou told Science|Business.

To maintain their position in science and innovation, UK universities must, “Make it clear to our partners that we are strongly committed to the EU,” Georghiou said. He does not foresee a significant change in lobbying activities in Brussels, but he acknowledges that universities will be quite busy in the next years with reassuring EU partners of the UK’s commitment.

“We have to move fast and mitigate those negative effects,” said Georghiou. University associations are expected to be campaigning in the same direction, “But at the moment we do not have anyone to campaign to,” he added.

Nicola Blackwood, the chair of  House of Commons science and technology committee has written to the Chancellor George Osborne to tell him the government should be prepared to maintain science funding in the event of a shortfall as a result of the EU vote leave.

UK science minister Jo Johnson repeated some broad reassurances given yesterday by his government with regards to its commitment to help universities mitigate the effects of Brexit.

Keeping students, faculty and staff

Heads of UK’s top universities are reassuring students and staff from EU countries that they do not need to worry about their status.

Nancy Rothwell, vice chancellor of Manchester University said it is, and will remain, not just a UK, but also a global university that embraces staff and students, and academic and business partnerships from across the world. “It is particularly important at this time that we welcome and support our current and future colleagues and students from Europe and other continents and show them how much they are valued,” she said.

Rothwell has received many messages indicating that the referendum outcome is cause for concern and some distress for many staff and students, particularly those who are nationals of other EU countries and/or who hold grants or are working in partnerships with other EU agencies or institutions.

“Until we are informed about any detailed government plans, it is not possible to predict precise consequences or to offer any concrete assurances,” Rothwell said.

UCL President Michael Arthur said EU students and staff at universities in the UK, “Have the full right to apply for Horizon 2020 and for European Research Council funding. We are still a full member state of the EU, which we will remain at least for the next two years, and possibly longer,” Arthur said.

“Our staff and students can be assured that in the short term, we anticipate no disruption to employment or study,” Oxford University said.

“We will work with our partners in business, research and academia, as well as our European partners and the government, to understand the implications of this outcome,” says Cambridge Vice Chancellor Leszek Borysiewicz.