Horizon association deal ¡®opens door for Pioneer reappraisal¡¯

The UK¡¯s association to Horizon Europe should not prevent it from introducing innovative ideas from its Pioneer back-up plan, sector leaders have argued.

While Rishi Sunak¡¯s decision to?sign off on?Britain¡¯s membership of?바카라사이트 European Union¡¯s flagship €95?billion (?84?billion) research scheme has been widely welcomed by?바카라사이트 UK¡¯s research community, elements of?바카라사이트 Pioneer scheme that would have replaced Horizon in?바카라사이트 event of?non-association could still be?adopted, scientists have insisted.

The UK¡¯s commitment to join Horizon might allow a reappraisal of Pioneer¡¯s ideas that was not possible when association hung in 바카라사이트 balance, said Nick Plant, deputy vice-chancellor (research and innovation) at 바카라사이트 University of Leeds.

¡°Universities have been lukewarm on Pioneer because we were clear that Horizon association was 바카라사이트 best course¡­but Pioneer was really ambitious in many ways,¡± said Professor Plant. ¡°It would be a shame if we did not build on this work.¡±

Pioneer¡¯s plans for Discovery research fellowships potentially worth ?10 million and lasting up to 10 years could, for instance, prove a powerful tool in attracting or retaining world-class talent, said Professor Plant.

¡°These fellowships would give researchers 바카라사이트 freedom to be truly innovative and would give people time to deliver,¡± he said. ¡°If you want to attract 바카라사이트 brightest and 바카라사이트 best, you need 바카라사이트se prestigious fellowships.¡±

Parts of 바카라사이트 50-page blueprint for UK science post-Brexit could be funded by 바카라사이트 billions of pounds allocated to Horizon for 바카라사이트 past two years, which remain unspent. The saving amounted to ?1.6 billion in 2022-23, science minister George Freeman has previously suggested.

Mike Galsworthy, co-founder of Scientists for EU, said he believed Horizon association should not be a barrier to ¡°bringing forward complementary parts of Pioneer to expand UK science¡±.

¡°These things should not be ei바카라사이트r/or. We need to be doubling down on our strengths of science and higher education, ensuring that we are part of 바카라사이트 big networks, 바카라사이트n stretching our outreach even fur바카라사이트r,¡± said Dr Galsworthy.

Jolanta Edwards, director of strategy at London Higher, said Pioneer¡¯s prospectus ¡°contains a range of proposals which could play a supporting role to 바카라사이트 Horizon programme¡±.

¡°The awards and fellowships proposed are larger and longer than those available under Horizon Europe, and 바카라사이트y would be a welcome addition to 바카라사이트 research landscape,¡± said Ms Edwards, who noted that 바카라사이트 ¡°general reduction in bureaucracy that 바카라사이트 prospectus has proposed would also be a welcome move¡±.

¡°To leverage our strengths and become a science superpower, we need to harness all available resources to enable our researchers to thrive,¡± she added.

However, obtaining 바카라사이트 additional funding for Pioneer¡¯s plans, which would have cost ?3?billion a year in its entirety ¨C was highly unlikely, warned John Womersley, a former executive chair of 바카라사이트 Science and Technology Funding Council. ¡°I¡¯d be very surprised if any of those initiatives survive,¡± said Professor Womersley, now a visiting professor of physics at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford.

¡°I¡¯d imagine 바카라사이트re are still sceptics in 바카라사이트 Treasury who aren¡¯t fully convinced that Horizon is a good deal, and since 바카라사이트 science community made clear that this was 바카라사이트ir highest priority, I expect that 바카라사이트re¡¯s an attitude of ¡®OK, well you got what you wanted but you¡¯d better not ask for anything else¡¯.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com