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EU policymakers have reached a deal on the budget for next year, and with the focus squarely on tackling the fallout from the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis, research and innovation do not feature at the top of the policy priorities.
New Zealand and the European Commission announced they will enter formal negotiations on joining Horizon Europe, the EU's €95.5 billion research and innovation programme. Along with Canada, New Zealand was the first highly industrialised country to start exploratory talks with the EU on becoming an associated country in Horizon Europe. In the previous research programme, Horizon 2020, New Zealand participated as a 'third country' a status that does not offer the full benefits of association.
The European Commission is about to embark on assessments of the EU's research programmes, guided by a joint consultation with stakeholders opening in November. Three tasks on the agenda are a new strategic plan for the current €95.5 billion Horizon Europe research framework; evaluation of the first half of Horizon Europe; and the final assessment of the previous research programme, Horizon 2020.
It's all here. The draft work programmes for the next two years of the EU's Horizon Europe research programme, which the European Commission has been keeping under wraps - for the most part - have been leaked.
Nusrat Ghani faces pressing issues such as the future of funding for Britain's researchers.
Science|Business has published an exhaustive but unapproved draft Horizon Europe work programme detailing the calls for climate and mobility projects for the next two years and an early draft outlining bioeconomy, food and environment calls.
It's that time of the year, and the Brussels research community is urging policymakers to ensure there is enough money for the EU's Horizon Europe research programme in 2023.
Britain has jeopardised research and made itself far less attractive to overseas scientists.
The UK government, raising the political heat over Brexit, began legal proceedings against the European Union for blocking its membership in the €95.5 billion research programme, Horizon Europe.
British foreign secretary triggers formal dispute proceedings with Brussels over British access to EU science programs.
Success rates for researchers applying for Horizon Europe grants stand at 15.8% according to preliminary data, an improvement on the 'unacceptably low' level of 12% in the previous EU research programme, Horizon 2020.
The European Commission has rejected calls from research leaders on both sides of the English Channel for it to put politics aside and allow Switzerland and the UK to join the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.
Uncertainty in British politics is a headache for UK researchers
Horizon Europe is a new type of beast. While building on previous EU research programmes, it is doubling down on making an impact on major societal and technological challenges facing the bloc. Research stakeholders fear this shift will take money away from laboratory bench research and are calling on the European Commission to ensure it is clear which parts of the Horizon Europe pot impact-driven funding is coming from.
With the United Kingdom ever more likely to leave the European Union's science-funding programmes, an alternative has been proposed.
After four years at the helm of the European Commission's research directorate-general, Jean-Eric Paquet is now getting ready to become EU ambassador to Japan on 1 September. Paquet has been steering the directorate-general since three months before the Commission published its proposal for the Horizon Europe programme.
Academics forced to choose between staying in the UK and leaving for the EU say they were not given enough warning before having to make a crucial decision determining whether they keep life changing grants. Around 150 UK-based winners of European Research Council (ERC) grants have been put in a near impossible position because a wider rift between Brussels and London has stopped the UK from associating to Horizon Europe, the programme behind the ERC.
Move follows dispute over Northern Ireland protocol, as one academic says UK is going down a 'dark path'
As Brexit dispute deepens, grant winners are forced to reject money or move to Europe.
EU efforts to reduce the east-west gap in research and innovation should be backed by investment and reforms in member states, the EU auditor says in a report reviewing funding schemes set up by the European Commission to help bridge the divide.
Researchers are already moving to countries where it is easier to operate and collaborate.
The European Research Council (ERC) is set to introduce lump sum funding to its Advanced grants for experienced researchers starting in 2024.
Some British researchers who had secured Horizon Europe funding have already been told that their grants will be cancelled.
At least half a dozen UK-based researchers have already lost coordination roles in Horizon Europe consortia because of the failure of Brussels and London to agree UK association to the programme, with the true tally losing out on leadership positions likely much higher.
The UK is working on a "bigger, better" rival to the European Research Council as part of an alternative to the Horizon Europe, in response to growing fears that the country will not associate to the framework programme.
Vice-chancellors ask both sides to work together to save the UK's role in a multi-billion-pound scheme.
Newly calculated figures illustrate the sharp decline in contributions from EU programmes to Swiss institutions between 2014 and 2017. They also attest to the relevance of Switzerland and the UK in terms of scientific excellence.
The invasion of Ukraine has helped open the door for Japan, Canada, South Korea and New Zealand to join Horizon Europe, according to Brussels lead negotiator Signe Ratso, as the EU tries to bolster research ties with likeminded democracies. Last year, it appeared that the Commission's efforts to convince these science powers to associate had stalled.
A year since the launch of Horizon Europe, the European Commission says its research partnerships with industry and member states are showing first signs of contributing to EU's green, digital and health policy goals.
The European Commission officially launched a €25 million direct aid package of Marie Skłodowska-Curie grants for researchers from Ukraine, as it announced a €562 million increase for the Horizon Europe budget in 2022.
