• European Research Council (ERC) Grants
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) Postgraduate Fellowships
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) Staff Exchanges

Global challenges & European Industrial Competitiveness Clusters

• Health
• Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society
• Civil Security for Society
• Digital, Industry and Space
• Climate, Energy and Mobility
• Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

EU Missions

• Adaptation to Climate Change
• Cancer
• Restore our Ocean and Waters
• Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities
• A Soil Deal for Europe

• EIC Pathfinder Open
• EIC Pathfinder Challenges
• EIC Transition Open

The UK Government has extended the Horizon Europe Guarantee.  The guarantee will now be in place to cover all Horizon Europe calls that close on or before the end of June 2023.

Also, following the Windsor Agreement news last week, and the statement from Ursula Von der Leyen that the deal was “good news for scientists and researchers in the EU and in the UK”,  and that work could begin “immediately” on securing UK association to EU R&D programmes once the new Windsor Framework is implemented - the UK research and business community must now wait to hear news of ongoing negotiations around association and the UK future financial contribution to the programme.

Branwen Hide from the UK Research Office (UKRO) will be coming to the University on 20^th April to run a couple of EU sessions with me for all University Research Services staff.  This afternoon event will look at Horizon Europe including engaging with the programme and proposal submission.   The event is currently open for RS staff registrations - if we have the space we will open registrations wider across the University.

Horizon Europe – Engaging with the Programme and Proposal Submission - 20^th April 2023  -  2:30pm – 4:30pm - Coupland Building 3 – Lecture Theatre A

The session will give a general introduction to the Horizon Europe Programme and will provide advice on proposal preparation including setting up project budgets and cost categories. The session will address all Horizon Europe schemes and provide some advice on the UK guarantee.

University staff involved with Horizon Europe proposal preparation, including preparation of budgets and advising research staff, should try to attend. 

**EVENT POSTPONED - RESCHEDULED DATES WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY**

Branwen Hide from the UK Research Office (UKRO) will be coming to the University on 20^th April to run a couple of EU sessions with me for all University Research Services and Research Finance staff. 

This morning event will look at Horizon 2020 - Financial Management and Post-Award Reporting.   The event is currently open for RS and RF staff registrations - if we have the space we will open registrations wider across the University.

H2020 - Financial Management and Post-Award Reporting - 20^th April 2023  -  10:00- 12:00 - Mansfield Cooper Building – G21

The session will give a general introduction to the H2020 Programme and will provide advice on preparation of financial reports, eligible and ineligible costs and audits but will also look at amendments, access rights, IPR management and reporting and other aspects of post-award project management.

All University staff involved with H2020 projects are invited to attend. 

**EVENT POSTPONED - RESCHEDULED DATES WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY**

Two-factor authentication will become mandatory for all EU Login accounts on the Commission’s Participant Portal.

What is two-factor authentication?

Two-factor authentication (or 2FA) is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence (or factors) to an authentication mechanism protecting user data from being accessed by an unauthorized third party that may have been able to discover a single password.

Why is the Commission introducing mandatory two-factor authentication on EU Login accounts?

The threats to cybersecurity are increasing and this prompted the Commission to introduce two-factor authentication for their EU Login accounts – this is optional at this stage.  Many of you will already have seen that every time you log in to your account a reminder pops up with information on how to set up two-factor authentication to make your account more secure.

While there is currently no clear timeline for two-factor authentication becoming mandatory we understand that this is expected to happen during the course of 2023, this will l be gradual process rather than a revolution and nothing will happen overnight, however, users can register at any time.

There are still a number of unanswered questions about the practicalities of use of 2FA, UKRO is discussing these with the Commission, including what two-factor authentication means for projects using shared mailboxes (e.g. finance@university.ac.uk) – as soon as I hear anything more about this I will let people know, at the moment I don’t have any detail on this.

You can view an EU webinar on 2FA on YouTube via this link.

Horizon Europe Guarantee - extended to 30th September 2023

The government has announced an extension to the support provided to UK Horizon Europe applicants until the end of September 2023.

The support provided to UK Horizon Europe applicants has been extended for a further three months. The extension will ensure that eligible, successful UK applicants will continue to be guaranteed funding, supporting them to continue their important work in research and innovation.

The guarantee will be in place to cover all Horizon Europe calls that close on or before 30 September 2023. Eligible, successful applicants to Horizon Europe will receive the full value of their funding at their UK host institution for the lifetime of their grant.

All other conditions around submitting proposals and applying for the guarantee remain the same  - details regarding the scope and terms of the extension are available on the UKRI website.

All recent EU updates can be found on the EU Funding Website

Please visit FAQs page for more information on UK participation in Horizon Europe.

The UK is still eligible to apply to Horizon Europe calls including ERC calls, the Government guarantee will currently cover any successful award with a deadline on or before 30^th September (this may be extended) should the UK not sign the Association Agreement.

Upcoming ERC deadlines:

• Proof of Concept Grants – 21^st September 2023
• Starting Grants – Deadline  24^th October 2023 (Slides from the most recent UKRO information session are attached)
• Synergy Grants – 8^th November 2023 (UKRO information session registration details below)

UKRO offers a number of resources to support European Research Council (ERC) grant applications and host organisations with proposal development and project implementation.

ERC news and legal and financial resources include:

• Are Recruitment Costs Eligible in Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe?
• Issues with ERC Eligibility Extensions
• Minimum PI Time Commitments and PIs Across Multiple Institutions on ERC Grants
• ERC Grants: Funding and Design of Project Team Members
• Equipment Ownership and Obligation to PI on ERC Grants
• ERC Additional Funding for Major Equipment, Large Facilities and Experimental/Field Work Costs 
• 2024 ERC Work Programme
• Horizon Europe factsheets

UKRO Synergy Grant information sessions via Zoom in September open for registration.

ERC 2024 Synergy Grant: Call Information Webinar 1 of 2 – UKRO (urlisolation.com)

ERC 2024 Synergy Grant: Call Information Webinar 2 of 2 – UKRO (urlisolation.com)

The webinars will provide participants with a detailed practical overview of the ERC Synergy Grant scheme.  Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the proposal format and the key issues they are required to address in planning, writing and costing a proposal. The evaluation procedure and how to approach writing an application will also be explained.

The session is aimed at researchers based in, or moving to, the UK who are planning to submit a proposal to the 2024 ERC Synergy Grant call, and the research support staff who will be supporting these applications. Applicants are expected to be active researchers and to have a track record of excellent research.

For details on UK participation in ERC grants under Horizon Europe refer to UKRO’s dedicated factsheet for up to date information and guidance that can be shared with colleagues at other institutions.

The UK is to re-join the EU's flagship scientific research scheme, Horizon, the government has announced.

The joint UK/European Commission statement can be found here.

Today, the European Commission and the UK Government have concluded negotiations and reached an agreement in principle on the association of the UK to Horizon Europe and Copernicus under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.  The UK will associate to Copernicus, the EU's £8bn Earth observation programme but will not be re-joining EURATOM although there is an agreement to cooperate specifically on nuclear fusion.

UK researchers will be able to fully participate in the Horizon Europe programme on the same terms as researchers from other associated countries, including leading consortia, from the 2024 Work Programmes and onwards – including any 2024 calls opening this year. For calls from the 2023 Work Programmes, the European Commission will continue to administer transitional arrangements and the UK will continue to provide funding under the UK Guarantee. UK and EU scientists and researchers can have confidence in continuing long-term partnerships with their counterparts.

In a press release, the European Commission said the decision would be "beneficial to both" and stated that "overall, it is estimated that the UK will contribute almost €2.6bn (£2.2bn) per year on average for its participation to both Horizon and Copernicus.

The scientific and academic community has welcomed the news of Horizon association, the Chief Executive of Universities UK Vivienne Stern told the BBC there would be a "unanimous sigh of colossal relief"  from scientists which would allow them to work across geographical borders by drawing funding from a common pot.

The application process will remain unchanged, researchers should continue to apply as usual.

The UK Government and the European Commission have reached an agreement in principle on the association of the UK to the Horizon Europe and Copernicus programmes under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).  Once the relevant protocol of the TCA is signed the UK will officially associate to Horizon Europe as of 1 January 2024.  UK organisations will be able to apply for and obtain EU funding and lead projects for the vast majority of upcoming calls that will be opening throughout the autumn.

• UK applicants to calls under the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023 should continue to apply to Horizon Europe calls as beneficiaries, and, if successful, they will continue to be funded as an Associated Partner under the UK Guarantee scheme and will still not sign the EU Grant Agreement.  The Guarantee scheme is expected to be extended shortly. 

• For calls under the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2024, successful UK applicants will be funded as an Associated Country by the EU.

To clarify the terminology:

• Associated Partner – This is a Third Country role/status which is NOT Commission funded, for the UK this is funded by the guarantee.  The UK cannot coordinate/lead projects as an Third Country/Associated Partner.

• Associated Country – From 1^st January 2024 (including 2024 calls issued towards the end of 2023) the UK will be an Associated Country and will be eligible for Commission funding as a full Beneficiary on HE projects.  The UK can coordinate/lead projects as an Associated Country.

The terminology can be confusing, however, nothing will change in the way we submit proposals to HE, we continue to apply as a full Beneficiary with an EU budget as we have done over the past few years for Horizon Europe, however, for 2024 calls we will NOT change status to Associated Partner if we are successful, we will remain a full Beneficiary and claim our costs from the Commission.

FAQs

From when will the association agreements for Horizon Europe and Copernicus apply?

As stated in the European Commission’s Q&A, association to both programmes will become effective as of 1^st  January 2024.

Are the remaining 2023 Horizon Europe calls for proposals covered by the association agreement?

All 2023 calls will still be covered by the guarantee, for example, this includes all recent MSCA proposals (e.g. the recent HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01 call).

As included in the joint statement, “…………..for calls from the 2023 Work Programmes, the European Commission will continue to administer transitional arrangements [with UK organisations applying as beneficiaries and becoming Associated Partners at the granting stage] and the UK will continue to provide funding under the UK Guarantee.”

How do I know if the Horizon Europe call that I am applying to is covered by the association agreement?

The agreement means that UK organisations will be able to access Horizon Europe funding from 2024 work programmes and onwards – including any 2024 calls opening this year.  

The easiest way to find out if a call is covered by the association agreement is to look at the call/topic identifier.  All calls from the 2024 work programmes will have 2024 included in their identifier (e.g. ERC-2024-SyG or HORIZON-HLTH-2024-STAYHLTH-01-05-two-stage).

What happens to UK participants on ongoing Horizon Europe projects, which are subject to the transitional arrangement?

As included in the European Commission’s Q&A, “…………….so far, scientists affiliated to a UK institution have benefited from a transitional arrangement, which allowed them to apply and be evaluated as other potential beneficiaries under Horizon Europe calls.  However, in order to be eligible for EU funding, there needs to be an association agreement in place.  In practice, this means that in most cases UK entities were able to continue cooperation within Horizon Europe research consortia [as Associated Partners] while obtaining their funding from other sources.  Today’s agreement means that these researchers will be able to access Horizon Europe funding from 2024 work programmes and onwards.”  

Association will not cover already awarded Horizon Europe projects with funding from the guarantee.

Guidance documentation on UK Association.

In response to initial questions DSIT has published a helpful explainer document, which includes useful clarifications on many issues related to UK association to both programmes.  This document will continue to be updated to address any new questions on association. Please share this and the other official documents on UK association widely with your networks:

• UK Government explainer document on UK Association to Horizon Europe and Copernicus
• Joint statement by the UK and Commission
• UK Gov press release
• EC Q&A on the UK’s association to Horizon Europe and Copernicus

Horizon Europe calls will be issued via the Participant Portal you will need to register to set up or view a proposal.

The University’s Participant Identification Code (PIC) remains the same as for Horizon 2020 - 999903840.

You do not need to apply for a separate/new PIC when setting up a new proposal session.

Following the decision of the UK not to associate to Euratom R&T the government announced on Thursday 7^th September that it plans to put in place an ambitious and cutting-edge suite of new, alternative, R&D programmes to support the UK’s flourishing fusion sector and strengthen international collaboration, in support of the UK Fusion Strategy.

To deliver this package the government plans to invest up to £650 million until 2027, subject to business case approvals.  This is in addition to the £126 million announced in November 2022 to support UK fusion R&D programmes.  Further details on the alternative programmes will be set out later in the Autumn.

The UK remains open to collaboration with the EU and other international partners and this will form a key part of this new programme of work.

The new alternative fusion R&D package will include:

• new facilities, specifically to grow new fusion fuel cycle capabilities and support innovation
• a new fusion skills package, to ensure that we develop the skills and capability needed to deliver on our fusion strategy
• further support to strengthen international collaborative projects
• other measures to accelerate the commercialisation of fusion including boosting our world leading Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production programme

Given delays to association this alternative approach gives the UK the best opportunity to deliver a fusion strategy driving job creation, investment and growth.  This ambitious domestic programme fully aligns with the core principle of international collaboration in the UK fusion strategy, the UK remains open to such collaboration including with the EU and ITER (the large international fusion experiment being built in France).  However, it was decided that the UK can be of most use to the global fusion mission outside the Euratom R&T framework.

Planning on the new package is well advanced and further details will be announced in due course.

UKRO, in its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the European Research Council (ERC), is organising a webinar for researchers who are interested in applying for the 2024 ERC Consolidator Grant call on 26 October 10:00-12:00 (UK time) the event will last 2 hours with a break midway through and an extended Q&A session in the second half.

This session will provide a basic overview of ERC, the submission process, how proposals are evaluated and other elements to consider when designing a project for your research idea.

The overall aim of this webinar series is to provide participants with practical information about the ERC Consolidator Grant scheme. Participants should gain a deeper understanding of the proposal format and the key issues they are required to address in planning, writing, and costing a proposal. The evaluation procedure and how to approach writing an application will also be explained.

The session is aimed at researchers based in, or moving to, the UK who are planning to submit a proposal to the 2024 ERC Consolidator Grant call, and the research support staff who will be supporting these applications.

Attendance is free of charge, but registration is mandatory.

 As confirmed in last week’s update of UKRI’s guidance on the Horizon Guarantee, the Euratom Research and Training Programme’s 2023 call (HORIZON-EURATOM-2023-NRT-01) is covered by the Guarantee – although Euratom is formally not part of Horizon Europe – and funding may be accessed through the Innovation Funding Service.

In contrast to the previous advice for applicants expecting to obtain funding from the UK Horizon Guarantee funds, UK applicants must submit to any of the current Euratom calls as Associated Partners and not as beneficiaries.  This is because the UK has not associated to the Euratom programme and so is no longer a candidate associated country for this part of the programme, the UK is a Third Country for these calls.  This applies to Euratom calls ONLY, for all other 2023 and 2024 Horizon Europe calls the UK should apply as Beneficiaries with an EU budget listed on the Portal.

This is in line with the Commission’s FAQ advice:

“Under call HORIZON-EURATOM-2023-NRT-01, are entities established in the UK eligible to participate as beneficiaries or affiliated entities?

No. The UK has decided not to pursue its association to the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025. Therefore, UK entities (as any other entity from non-associated third countries) cannot participate as beneficiaries (with or without funding) or as affiliated entities. They can implement action tasks in their own name only as associated partners without funding.”

The UK decided not to associate to Euratom and an alternative domestic nuclear research and development scheme will be implemented instead, as announced last month.

Other than Horizon Europe and Copernicus, the UK is considered a non-associated third country and therefore not eligible for EU funding in many EU programmes, this includes Erasmus+, Euratom, Digital Europe, the Single Market Programme, LIFE, Creative Europe, EU4Health, the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme, the Justice Programme, the European Defence Fund and many others.  The full list of EU funding programmes is available here.

When applying to the remaining Horizon Europe calls (not Euratom) from the 2023 Work Programme, UK organisations must still apply for funding from the EU as Beneficiaries and not as Associated Partners in order to be eligible for the Guarantee.  The change to Associated Partner status must only be made after the project has been assessed, at the point of preparing the EU grant agreement.

Euratom    UK Participation

Horizon Europe calls will be issued via the Participant Portal you will need to register to set up or view a proposal.

The University’s Participant Identification Code (PIC) remains the same as for Horizon 2020 - 999903840.

You do not need to apply for a separate/new PIC when setting up a new proposal session.

The Commission intends to increase the number of calls that will use the lump sum funding model to help reduce the number of financial errors on research and innovation grants, these projects will be managed using the Lump Sum Model Grant Agreement.  The number of calls using lump sums will steadily increase throughout 2023 and is expected to reach 50% of all topics in future Work Programmes.  Attached are the slides from the Commission’s webinar which focused on how lump sum funding works, and how to write a proposal - the webinar included two case studies from relevant ongoing projects.

The approach to lump sum funding under Horizon Europe remains mostly unchanged from Horizon 2020 and builds on the 2018-2020 Lump Sum Pilot.  The key aspect of lump sum projects is that payments are made at the end of each reporting period upon the completion of work packages.  If a work package is not completed at the end of a reporting period, payment for the corresponding activities will be delayed.  As in Horizon 2020, payments do not depend on a successful outcome but on the completion of the project activities.  It is now possible for incomplete work packages to be finalised in the subsequent reporting periods.  Moreover, in the last reporting period beneficiaries can declare partial work packages that were not completed earlier and get paid accordingly for their work efforts.  

There is a dedicated EC website that brings together all the information on lump sum funding in the programme which includes a FAQ section.

The EC has also recently added a new section of the Horizon Dashboard called ‘Horizon Dashboard for lump sum evaluations (personnel costs)‘ it contains details of the average personnel costs per organisation type/country, which can be useful for costing future lump sum projects.

Below are a few key points for preparing a lump sum funded proposal.

Preparing the budget 

• Applicants must include a detailed budget table using the Excel file provided during submission (see budget table template) as an annex to Part B of the application form.
• The budget is based on cost estimates that approximate to the actual costs and are subject to the same eligibility conditions as actual costs grants, and must be in line with institutional practice, as well as being reasonable and necessary for the proposed activities.
• The detailed budget table is not included in the grant agreement but is used to generate the breakdown of lump sum shares per work package/participant (Annex 2).

Work package design

• EC often see an increase in number of work packages, but they should always meet project needs and be manageable.
• Overarching work packages, such as ‘Management’, can be split into smaller ones to align with reporting periods/payments.
• When splitting work packages, such as ‘Management’, one does not need to describe them in detail more than once.
• When thinking about the timing of work packages, bear in mind the reporting periods.

Evaluation

• Experts will assess the costs estimations entered in the detailed budget table, under the ‘implementation criteria’;
• If the costs are not considered ‘reasonable’ and or, do not meet the needs of the project, the evaluators can recommend the budget to be reduced accordingly;
• Cost estimations that are clearly overestimated or underestimated will lead to a reduced score under ‘implementation’.
• The newly added section of the Horizon Dashboard called ‘Horizon Dashboard for lump sum evaluations (personnel costs)’ can be used for costing lump sum projects.

Implementation

• Once the lump sum is fixed, the amount will not be changed.
• The budget can be used flexibly, including the transfer of budgets between work packages and beneficiaries without the need for an amendment.
• Amendments are needed if the redistribution of the budget results in a change to the payment schedule, or if beneficiaries want additional clarity in Annex 2.
• Payments are based on the acceptance of a completed work package.
• Payments can be made for partially completed work packages and the amount will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
• Completion of work packages is not dependent on a successful outcome.
• There are no financial audits on lump sum projects, although in cases where serious fraud is suspected, an audit will be carried out by the relevant EU bodies.
• Audits will look to see if internal policies and procedures have been carried out.
• No timesheets are needed; however, if it is an internal policy of the participant to keep them, they will need to be kept on record.
• The contribution to a work package by an associated partner is not taken into consideration by the EC when deciding if a work package has been completed.

EC lump sum webinar slides 

Branwen Hide from the UK Research Office (UKRO) will be presenting an online Horizon Europe session, this event will look at Horizon Europe including association, engaging with the programme and proposal submission.   

Horizon Europe – Engaging with the Programme and Proposal Submission - Webinar 

16^th November 10:00 – 12:00

The session will give a general introduction to the Horizon Europe Programme and will provide advice on proposal preparation including setting up project budgets and cost categories

University staff involved with Horizon Europe proposal preparation, including preparation of budgets and advising research staff, should try to attend. 

You can join the Horizon Europe event at:

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join on your computer, mobile app or room device

Click here to join the meeting [teams.microsoft.com]

Meeting ID: 365 814 952 502
Passcode: 4axLm3

Download Teams [microsoft.com] | Join on the web [microsoft.com]

Join with a video conferencing device

ukri@m.webex.com

Video Conference ID: 122 283 500 1

Alternate VTC instructions [webex.com]

Learn More [aka.ms] | Meeting options [teams.microsoft.com]

There is a separate session on Tuesday 14^th November between 10:00 and 12:00 which will address Horizon 2020 post-award financial management and reporting – this session is open to Research Finance staff involved with submitting H2020 financial and periodic reports.

Please find attached the slides from the UKRO Horizon Europe here - Legal and Finance session held on Tuesday 14^th November.

This session is relevant to all researchers and Research Support staff interested in participating in Horizon Europe.