The team produce a quarterly newsletter to provide information on funding opportunities, events and internationalisation activity.
Download previous newsletters from our archive:
Newsletters from the collaboration on regnerative immunology between the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Manchester:
Come and join us for our next seminar on Health and health systems in the Global South.
May: 9 May 2024, 12:00-13:00: Trends in NCDS: can social protection and hospital policy revert it?, Dr. Vidhya Unnikrishnan, Lecturer, Global Development Institute
June: 6 June 2024, 12:00-13:00: Health Insurance in Ghana, Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim, Lecturer, Global Development Institute
We encourage colleagues who are interested in presenting their work to get in touch.
EC Webinars on Lump Sum Funding in Horizon Europe
A dedicated “Lump sum funding in Horizon Europe” section is available on the Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal. It brings together all the information on lump sum funding in the programme, FAQs and events.
Information on Lump Sum funding was circulated in October 2023
During the Research & Innovation week which took place last week in Brussels, the European Commission announced the new release of the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
The new release includes but is not limited to:
The EU Funding & Tenders Portal has over 1.5 million users, including EU funding applicants, beneficiaries, tenderers, and experts. These developments have been implemented after user feedback was collected on the Portal’s services and tools, to provide users with an updated and more seamless experience.
The European Commission has released a video which showcases the Portal’s new features and provides guidance on how to navigate them.
UK and international researchers are being supported to tackle health challenges today and develop the technologies of tomorrow with new partnership programmes.
UKRI celebrates 5,000 Global Talent visa endorsements
Endorsed funders route helps attract the brightest scientists and researchers to pursue their careers in the UK.
The Global Talent visa (GTV) was launched in 2020 to provide a specialist route for international researchers to live and work in the UK.
Since then, through its endorsed funder’s route, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has helped over 5,000 talented people from over 130 different countries to build their careers in the UK.
We want to bring this opportunity to more people and for more organisations to become endorsed GTV funders and hosts.
Find out more about the scheme and how you can support it.
EU Update - Horizon Europe Association 2023/2024
The UK’s association to Horizon Europe and Copernicus was officially sealed on 4th December. The association agreement was adopted in the form of a protocol to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement by the EU-UK Specialised Committee on Participation in Union Programmes.
After the announcement on 7 September 2023, UK organisations will be able to participate in Horizon Europe calls for proposals on the same terms as institutions from other Associated Countries, including leading consortia and receiving EU funding, from the 2024 Work Programme and onwards. This includes any 2024 calls opening this year.
Participation in Copernicus, the EU Earth Observation programme, will enable the UK’s access to a state-of-the-art capacity to monitor the Earth and to its services, as well as provide the UK research community with access to unique data, which is often required on Horizon Europe projects.
The UK Government has published a helpful explainer document, which includes clarifications on many issues related to the UK association to both programmes.
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will shortly launch a communications campaign to maximise participation in Horizon Europe and Copernicus from researchers, academics and businesses of all sizes in the UK. This PR push will shine a light on the real-world examples of the benefits Horizon and Copernicus participation can deliver for academics, researchers and businesses, right across the UK – particularly small and medium-sized businesses involved in R&D, which might not have previously considered applying.
Alongside this, in a partnership with the British Academy and other key backers, support will be made available to selected UK researchers applying for Horizon for the first time, through ‘pump priming’ funding, with up to £10,000 available per application. The funding will be available to support those researchers who have not previously had experience, including next generation researchers. The fund will be targeted to ensure it maximises the UK’s involvement in Horizon.
£15 million funding to strengthen health workforce in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana
UK delivers multi-million pound boost in Africa to strengthen health workforce and build resilience against global threats.
The UK will provide a multi-million pound boost to support healthcare staff recruitment and retention in 3 African countries - Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana - supporting resilience against global health challenges.
Fifteen million pounds from the ring-fenced Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget for 2022 to 2025 will be committed to optimise, build and strengthen the health workforce in the 3 African countries. Recognising the importance of the health workforce in lower and middle income countries in improving health outcomes and achieving universal health coverage, the funding will enable people in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana access to the full range of health services they need, when they need it.
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need for the UK to co-operate closely with international partners to tackle global health threats, which put considerable pressure on the NHS. The pandemic also resulted in workforce retention pressures around the world, while the demand for healthcare staff has increased. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates a shortage of 10 million health workers globally by 2030, which threatens achieving global universal health coverage and could worsen worldwide health inequalities.
Addressing critical workforce challenges is key to strengthening health systems and building global resilience against future pandemics so people across the world - including in the UK - can be protected.
Six million pounds from the ODA funding pledge will support the WHO to deliver health workforce planning and capacity-building work - such as improved administration systems and training and retention opportunities - in collaboration with local governments and health system stakeholders.
As part of this package, the Department of Health and Social Care will also run a £9 million 2-year competitive grant scheme for a not-for-profit organisation to coordinate delivery of partnership work in participating countries.
The partnership programmes for the health workforce include linking UK institutions with local health systems, promoting skills exchanges and improving the curriculum, regulation and guidance in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana.
The delivery coordinator will be responsible for setting up, funding and overseeing this work to drive improvement in quality and retention of healthcare staff in the 3 countries and ultimately help to ensure better outcomes for patients.
The funding builds on £5 million previously committed as part of the Building the Future International Workforce ODA programme in Ghana, Uganda and Somaliland which aims to improve health workforce planning and management, provide training opportunities for refugees and displaced people and link NHS institutions with country health institutions.
Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana were chosen for the ODA award as they showed a clear need for workforce support, evidenced by high population mortality rates and low staff numbers, as well as unemployment among their trained health workers.
Funding for ‘greener’ international travel
Colleagues say our top up fund for reducing emissions is easy to access – and opens up new ways of working
Horizon Europe Guarantee fund awards £1bn in grants
The Horizon Europe Guarantee fund has reached an important milestone with more than £1 billion now awarded to UK-based researchers and innovators.
The funding is enabling them to participate in Horizon Europe projects while the UK’s association to the flagship EU funding programme is delayed.
Also today the government has set out its prospectus for a programme to protect and support the UK research and innovation sector, should it be required.
The guarantee fund is delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). It supports researchers and innovators who have been successful in Horizon Europe competitions but cannot receive EU funding due to the delays to the UK’s association to the programme. With guarantee funding they can continue their important work in research and innovation.
