Horizon Europe: Update on UK participation and upcoming drop-in sessions with ERIO

UCL researchers continue to have the right to participate in and lead proposals targeting research and innovation funding under the EU's Horizon Europe programme. UCL’s submission and success rates for 2021 funding calls have also remained broadly consistent with previous years, despite the uncertainty caused by the continued delays to the UK's association to the programme. UCL submitted 338 proposals to the 2021 calls, of which 57 have been selected for funding, 16 are on the reserve list, and 27 results are still pending. We are pleased to report that this results in an excellent current success rate of 18.4%.

In the interim, the UK Government has maintained its commitment to underwrite UK organisations' participation in those Horizon Europe projects where grant agreements are expected to be signed by the end of December 2022. This guarantee fund is being managed by UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), and the UCL European Research & Innovation Office (ERIO) is coordinating the registration of eligible UCL grants on the UKRI systems.

The UK Government’s position remains that it is ready to formalise association at the earliest opportunity. At the same time, preparations for an ambitious ‘Plan B’ are underway, in the event that association is not secured.

Advice for recent Horizon Europe Grantees

We encourage all recent Horizon Europe grantees, including those holding European Research Council (ERC) grants, to continue liaising with their assigned member of the ERIO Research Management team to discuss the administration of their grant and its registration for the UKRI guarantee.

Horizon Europe Drop-in Sessions

ERIO will also be holding a Horizon Europe drop-in session on Friday 13 May from 14:00 - 15:00, open to both UCL colleagues and external collaborators, to discuss any questions or concerns related to UCL's participation in Horizon Europe. The session will be held on Microsoft Teams, and there is no need to register in advance.

• Session Teams link
• Organiser contact email

A second such drop-in session will also be held on Friday 27 May from 14:00 - 15:00, for which the Teams link will be published on the ERIO website a week in advance.