Some good news for once.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Britain’s membership of Horizon, which funds research projects tackling crucial issues from the climate crisis to terminal diseases and improving food and energy security, was agreed as part of the post-Brexit trade deal in 2020.
Prof Carsten Welsch, a physicist at the University of Liverpool who lost leadership of a £2.6m research project on a novel plasma generator that could be used in cancer treatment when the UK was excluded from Horizon, said: “I am absolutely thrilled about this news as we have been in a limbo situation for far too long.
Mike Galsworthy, the chair of European Movement UK, attacked the government for disadvantaging science by delaying associate membership of Horizon for so long.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has spent the last five months holding out for the “underperformance clause”, which was agreed in 2020, to be readjusted to guarantee a greater rebate if Britain failed to achieve previous levels of grants from the programme.
The path for the UK’s return to Horizon was cleared as far back as March after London and Brussels resolved their dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol, with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, promising a “swift” decision.
But stop-start talks over the following months were marred by demands by the UK for extra discounts to take account of the absent years, much to the fury of the science community, many of whom opposed Sunak’s plan B to go it alone.
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ThePyroPython@feddit.uk 9 months ago
Thank fucking god!
The UK research sector is one of the next biggest outside of the financial services sector.
Now, align standards, and get a fucking deal together with Norway over oil, offshore wind, and grid interconnectors or something that is mutually beneficial so that they don’t veto entry into the EEA.
Get into the EEA, learn to take the rules that the multinational corporations and other 3rd countries do if they want to sell to the worlds 3rd largest market.
merridew@feddit.uk 9 months ago
A lot of damage has already been done in terms of brain drain to the continent. I never got the impression that the Brexit gang understood it isn’t just about money; it’s about the ease of collaboration. As if British research, unique among the world, didn’t derive benefit from collaboration.
ThePyroPython@feddit.uk 9 months ago
I agree. The UK universities that act as major hubs for research and innovation are still around and still have a good reputation. The Brexit political forces have damaged the sector, but it’s not dead and it can be fixed if talented international teams feel confident to invest their people in the UK to leverage the institutions we have.
I think that the Brexit gang had the idea that all modern UK innovation was being done by Brunel and Newton types: the myth of a single person who though sheer will bring forth technological & scientific disruption.
It’s completely the wrong idea. Hopefully, when they see that showing commitment to international and Europe-wide collaboration brings back the top-talent they’re so despite for, they’ll swallow their misplaced pride.