How would the loss of Horizon 2020 funding impact university research? Lords to hear evidence

Erasmus and Horizon 2020 are among several EU programmes with a focus on education and skills collaboration. The Government is committed to participation in these programmes until the end of their current phases in 2020, but upon exit from the EU, the UK will no longer fulfil eligibility criteria for full membership. 

After the UK leaves the EU, it is unclear whether or how the UK will continue to participate in these programmes. The Government has indicated that it is considering continued association with both programmes, but the substance and cost of these arrangements are still unclear.

The Committee will ask the witnesses what impact this lack of certainty on future association with Horizon is having on UK research and innovation and what would be lost if the UK is treated as a third country in terms of its access to the programme. The Committee will be discussing Erasmus with different witnesses next week. 

The evidence session will begin at 9:40a.m. in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords. The Committee will question:

• Professor Andrew Thompson, Executive Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK Research and Innovation
• Dr Beth Thompson MBE, Head of UK & EU Policy, Wellcome Trust
• Vivienne Stern, Director, Universities UK International

Other questions the Committee are likely to ask include:

• How will the Government’s guarantee to underwrite successful funding bids work in practice? 
• If there is no deal, would you anticipate a large increase in the number of applications for national funding schemes? 
• It remains unclear what the rules on movement of people will be between the UK and EU in the event of no deal. How important is the movement of people across the UK-EU border for UK research?