As of 1st January 2024, the UK is now fully associated to Horizon Europe. This means that the researchers and innovators hosted by or based at UK institutions are able to fully participate in the Horizon Europe programme.
Funding Certainty
UK researchers and businesses, and their international partners can now be certain that all successful UK applicants will be funded through either the UK’s association, or through the UK Government’s existing guarantee for Horizon Europe grants for the rest of the programme. The association covers the calls of 2024 Work Programme and beyond until the end of Horizon Europe.
- All calls within Horizon Europe Work Programmes 2024 and beyond will be funded by the UK’s association to Horizon Europe.
- The UK Government Horizon Europe guarantee remains active and covers all remaining Horizon Europe grant calls up to and including Work Programmes 2023 irrespective of the call closing or grant signature date.
UK applicants must apply for funding from the EU as beneficiaries and not as Associated Partners in order to be eligible for the UK governments Horizon Europe funding guarantee.
Please refer to the webpage of UKRI to learn further about Horizon Europe association and the UK funding guarantee.
Horizon Europe guarantee - transition from Je-S to UKRI Funding Service
From May 2024, the following calls are open for grant submissions through the UKRI Funding Service.
- 2022 MSCA COFUND
- 2023 MSCA Staff Exchanges
- 2023 MSCA Post Doctoral Fellows
- 2023 MSCA Citizens
- 2023 MSCA Doctoral Networks
- 2023 ERC Starting Grants
- 2023 ERC Advance 2023
- 2023 ERC Synergy Grants
- 2023 ERC Consolidator Grants
All non-ERC and non-MSCA grant types currently hosted on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) will continue to be hosted on IFS.
Horizon Europe guarantee - EU collaborative R&D calls
There is guarantee funding for successful applicants to collaborative research and innovation calls
- whereby the last legal date for signing grant agreements is expected to pass before 31 December 2022 (excludes KICs 2022).
- with a final application submission deadline from 1 May 2022 onwards, up to calls covered by work programme 2023 (excludes KICs 2023)
IFS guarantee calls will remain open as long as necessary to enable all eligible applicants to complete their submission.
For detailed guidance on how to apply, please see the Horizon Europe guarantee notice and guidance page.
Here are some Question and Answers to help you - we are currently updating these due to recent guidance
Q. 1 - I am a Horizon Europe award holder (not-ERC or MSCA) and have received a letter from the EC, what should I do?
The letter from the European Commission (often via project coordinators) gives you two choices:
“Change of status of the participant from beneficiary to associated partner”
“Withdrawal of the legal entity from participation in the proposal”
In most cases, the Research Office would recommend changing to associated partner status. Please read the Q&A below.
Q. 2 - Should we continue to apply for Horizon Europe Funding?
Yes, all UK-based businesses and researchers can continue to apply to Horizon Europe calls as a ‘Beneficiary’ (not as an ‘Associated Partner’).
Horizon Europe Work Programmes 2024 and beyond - all calls within will be funded by Horizon Europe. UK researchers can lead consortia.
For 2021, 2022 and 2023 Work Programme call topics: if the application is successful, it will be underwritten by UKRI. You should turn your status to Associated Partners. (You cannot be the official co-ordinator but can be the technical/scientific co-ordinator).
If you would like more information, please email the EU Team at ROO horizongrants@admin.cam.ac.uk.
Q. 3 - I am being told by the lead partner of the consortium that the UK Partners need to be removed from the project as a result of the UK’s lack of association. What can I do?
Please contact the EU and International Team and we will help you navigate this with your Consortium Leader.
The UK is now fully associated to Horizon Europe as of 1st of January 2024 and the association deal covers the calls of 2024 Work Programmes (WP) and onwards. The source of funding for successful UK applicants to the 2023 Work Programmes and previous years calls will receive UKRI Guarantee Funding.
- 2024 WP calls and beyond
- Successful UK applicants for 2024 calls will be funded by the EU under the Horizon Europe Programme. UK applicants will not need to change their status to Associated Partner at the Grant Agreement stage. They can remain a beneficiary to the GA (Co-ordinator or Partner) and will be able sign their GA with the EU and receive EU funding. UKRI guarantee funding will not be used for these calls.
- 2023 WP and previous years calls
- Successful UK applicants to calls under the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023 (and previous years) will be funded under the UKRI Guarantee Funding. This Guarantee Funding is extended to cover successful applications made by UK-based businesses and researchers to calls under the Horizon Europe 2021, 2022 or 2023 WPs.
For 2023 (and previous years calls) it will be possible to reassure the Lead Partner that UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) will underwrite the UK partners’ funding that they would have received from the Commission. Once on UKRI funding, UK partners will remain on that funding for the duration of the project. For 2024 calls and beyond, the UK partners will be on Horizon Europe funding.
Q. 4 - Why do I need to change to Associated Partner status?
For 2021, 2022 and 2023 calls, entities based within the UK cannot be beneficiaries to EU grant funding. Instead, UK entities must rely on their own resources or third party resources e.g. where UKRI underwrites successful and eligible applicants. UK entities still need to apply as beneficiaries but change to ‘Associated Partner’ if successful at the point of preparing the EC grant agreement. By doing this you will be eligible to receive UKRI guarantee funding.
For 2024 calls and beyond, you can remain as a beneficiary and there is no need to change to "Associated Partner".
Q. 5 - Are there any disadvantages of the UKRI underwrite?
The UKRI underwrite will fund the UK entities to enable them to play a full and active part in the project with an overall funding value the same as if they were a beneficiary.
However, there are inevitable differences and some limitations e.g. the inability for associate partners to lead consortia. If you have recently been awarded an EC grant that you are coordinating, you will be required to transfer the coordinating activities to a partner based within an EU member state. While Associated Partners can continue to be Work Package leaders in some collaborative projects, there may be restrictions applied to specific schemes (e.g. MSCA Doctoral Networks – Associated Partners can only lead non-management Work Packages).
Q. 6 - How do I access funds via the UKRI underwrite?
UKRI is accepting submissions from successful Horizon Europe Awardees via the UKRI Funding Service and the Innovate Funding System (IFS) for the different types of EC awards. This is done on a scheme-by-scheme basis.
For the calls open for submission through the UKRI, the Research Office will liaise with PIs and Departments to take you through the steps required to change the project from being an EC-funded project to a UKRI-funded project. This will involve the PI / Project Team, the Departmental Administration Staff and the Research Office and requires preparation of a submission to UKRI, an updated X5 (to take account of the UKRI-mandated exchange rate) and liaison with your EC Project Officers (depending on the scheme).
The application details can be entered on the UKRI by the PI (rather than an institutional account), but it is essential that the ROO Pre Award Teams have checked and approved the application prior to submission to UKRI, in line with normal processes. Additional partners can be added by the PI to complete the application as an organisation.
If a project includes more than one UK partner, then each partner organisation needs to apply separately in IFS. Each participant registered on the signed EU grant agreement as a separate Associated Partner will receive a separate grant from UKRI. UKRI will link multiple grants from the same EU grant together for monitoring purposes.
From May 2024, the following calls are open for grant submissions through the UKRI Funding Service.
- 2022 MSCA COFUND
- 2023 MSCA Staff Exchanges
- 2023 MSCA Post Doctoral Fellows
- 2023 MSCA Citizens
- 2023 MSCA Doctoral Networks
- 2023 ERC Starting Grants
- 2023 ERC Advance 2023
- 2023 ERC Synergy Grants
- 2023 ERC Consolidator Grants
All non-ERC and non-MSCA grant types currently hosted on the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) will continue to be hosted on IFS.
Q. 7 - Is there a chance I will not get approved for UKRI funding?
Provided you submit the required documents and you are eligible as outlined in UKRI’s scheme-specific guidance, you will receive the funds from UKRI. Please check the eligibility requirements at UKRI Guarantee Guidance. The information submitted will not be reassessed by peer reviewers for scientific merit.
Q. 8 - How will the funding from UKRI work in practice?
UKRI is delivering the funding through its grant systems. Follow the specific guidance for your type of grant.
European Research Council (ERC) grants
European Institute of Innovation and Technology Knowledge and Innovation Communities (EIT-KICs)
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) grants
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships: how to apply for guarantee funding
MSCA Doctoral Networks: how to apply for guarantee funding
MSCA Staff Exchanges: how to apply for guarantee funding
MSCA CO-FUND: how to apply for guarantee funding
MSCA Citizens grants: how to apply for guarantee funding
Horizon Europe guarantee - EU collaborative R&D calls
There is guarantee funding for successful applicants to collaborative research and innovation calls
- whereby the last legal date for signing grant agreements is expected to pass before 31 December 2022 (excludes KICs 2022).
- with a final application submission deadline from 1 May 2022 onwards, up to calls covered by work programme 2023 (excludes KICs 2023)
Further Guidance
Horizon Europe guarantee: terms and conditions for grants using IFS
Q. 9 - What will be the names of ERC and MSCA grants funded by UKRI that can be used for visa application purposes?
The guarantee will use the scheme and call names given in the following table. For the purposes of applying for UK visas, the Je-S / TFS scheme names will be included on the list of approved schemes for the Global Talent Visa, where appropriate.
Q. 10 - As an ERC guarantee grant holder, can I use ERC branding?
UK based ERC guarantee grant holders are entitled to refer to their project as ‘selected by the ERC, funded by UKRI’ and can use the ERC logo and branding.
Because the project will be funded solely through UKRI and there is a requirement that the award holder recognises it formally as an UKRI award. For more information on funding acknowledgement, please see UKRI’s guidelines and download the logos.
UK based ERC guarantee grant holders are entitled to join the Association of ERC Grantees (AERG). The associated costs for membership can be charged to the guarantee grant.
Q. 11 - What reference should be used for MSCA awardees/ students/ fellows?
For both internal and external records, the prefix “UKRI Guarantee” should be added, for example:
• UKRI Guarantee Doctoral Network Students
• UKRI Guarantee Postdoctoral Fellows
Q. 12 - As an MSCA guarantee award holder, can I join the UK Chapter of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA)?
Currently guarantee grant holders are not eligible for Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) membership but are encouraged to participate in the UK Chapter. The UK chapter collaborates with the MCAA to offer opportunities for researchers to benefit from community networking, knowledge sharing and professional development. UKRI guarantee grant holders can become ‘Chapter Friends’ of the of the MCAA UK Chapter and can engage in activities within the science and innovation community. Register for the MCAA UK Chapter newsletter to stay informed about the association and Chapter activities.
Costs associated with attending MCAA UK Chapter events in person, or virtually, are considered an eligible cost to charge to your guarantee grant within the original total funding amount, as no additional funding is available. This should come from the institutional unit contributions part of the budget, as the entirety of the funding under the contributions for recruited researchers should be paid directly to the researcher.
Further details are available from the UKRI Horizon Europe guarantee guidance, page 47.
Q. 13 - As an MSCA guarantee award holder, can I attend the 2024 MCAA conference?
The 2024 MCAA annual conference and general assembly took place 14 - 16 March 2024. The purpose of the conference was to promote collaboration and knowledge exchange with others funded by MSCA grants, past and present. Any costs associated with attending the 2024 MCAA conference in person, or virtually, are considered an eligible cost to charge to your guarantee grant within the original total funding amount, as no additional funding is available. This should come from the institutional unit contributions part of the budget, as the entirety of the funding under the contributions for recruited researchers should be paid directly to the researcher.
Q. 14 - Will my guarantee funding be jeopardised if my consortium reallocates the EU funding originally assigned to my UK institution to fund additional activities?
For consortium-style projects, the UKRI guarantee will fund UK participants for the activities that were assigned to them as a beneficiary in the original proposal, assuming that the activities are still assigned to them as an Associated Partner in the final signed EU grant agreement. Guarantee funding will only be reduced if the UK participant is no longer performing an activity it was assigned in the original proposal.
Q. 15 - What start date will I be able to enter onto IFS?
You will be required to enter a future date into the start date section on IFS initially, although UKRI can manually adjust this if required. If your project has already started at time of submission to UKRI, you will be asked to note the actual start date of the project. The Grant Offer Letter will be issued listing this date as the project start date and using the duration entered in Application Details. We recommend that you wait until you receive the Grant Offer Letter before you start incurring costs against the grant, and if costs are incurred before this point, it is at your own risk.
Q. 16 - How long will it take for the grant offers to be issued after submission?
For grants hosted on IFS the anticipated turnaround time is around 30 days, if all the required information is submitted correctly. The process may take up to 90 days if additional information is required, depending on how quickly the additional information is provided. UKRI will always aim to prioritise those whose requested grant start date is due soonest, as far as possible.
From May 2024 UKRI will start to transition from Je-S to the UKRI Funding Service for ERC and MSCA grant submissions. The anticipated time to grant offer is around 7 weeks and they will continue to prioritise those looking to start their awards soonest, as far as possible.
The University of Cambridge will look to activate your project as soon as possible after the funding has been agreed – this will be done in collaboration with your Post-Award team at ROO.
Q. 17 - Do I have to use the exchange rate stipulated by UKRI in the guidance?
Yes.
For grant agreements signed by the Commission from the 1 January 2024 until 31 December 2024 a maximum exchange rate of £1: €1.148787 will be accepted, which reflects the 2023 average daily spot rate to the end of September 2023. This exchange rate will only be applied to new guarantee applications from 1 January 2024, not to guarantee grants already funded by UKRI.
For guarantee grants where no EU grant agreement will be signed, the revised exchange rate will apply for new guarantee applications to UKRI from the 1 January 2024. UKRI may change the GBP grant value in response to significant fluctuations in international exchange rates by applying an exchange rate that is different to the one it initially applied, but it shall not:
i.do so more frequently than once in a 12-month period; or
ii. apply any such change retrospectively to affect payments already made.
For grant agreements signed by the Commission from 1 January 2023 until 31 December 2023 a maximum exchange rate of £1: €1.180720 will be accepted, which reflects the 2022 average daily spot rate to the end of September 2022. This exchange rate will only be applied to new guarantee applications, not to guarantee grants already funded by UKRI. For guarantee grants where no EU grant agreement will be signed, the revised exchange rate will apply for new guarantee applications to UKRI from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023
The Euro value of the grant must be converted to pounds sterling and the UKRI grant under the guarantee will be for a pound sterling value. For grants signed by the Commission up to 31 December 2022, a maximum exchange rate of £1: €1.160354 will be accepted, which reflects the average exchange rate between January 2021 (at the start of the Horizon Europe programme) and October 2021. Payments will then be made on the basis of the GBP grant value.
Although the terms and conditions of the Grant Offer Letter includes a clause that the exchange rate can be revised during the lifetime of the grant, it is meant to ensure each grant is not subject to extreme currency fluctuations and we will not routinely alter the awarded amount or exchange rate on live grants. For example, in the event of a significant fall in the sterling, we reserve the right to award additional funds to the grant based on a new exchange rate.
Please note that depending on the exchange rate used at the time of your application, it’s possible you may see a slight reduction in the GBP value of your award. If you are concerned about this, the ROO team supporting your submission to the UKRI underwrite schemes will be available to answer any questions.
Q. 18 ERC - I have recently been awarded a European Research Council (ERC StG, CoG, AdG) grant and have received several letters from the EC that appears to suggest I need to reject my award, what should I do next?
The European Commission has recently sent letters to UK ERC awardees of 2023 Advanced Grant saying that their proposal is not covered by the association agreement of the UK to Horizon Europe. Therefore, the proposal does not meet the eligibility conditions and would be rejected. Awardees are given the option to transfer the grant to an eligible institution within an EU member state/Associated Country and are informed that if a request for transfer is not communicated by a certain date, their proposals will be rejected.
If the award holder wishes to remain in the UK, the UKRI guarantee will provide funding for all eligible successful awardees of ERC Calls covered within work programmes 2021, 2022, and 2023. This guarantee will allow awardees to receive the full value of their funding and continue their research in the UK. Awardees do not need to move abroad to an EU Member State or to an Associated Country to Horizon Europe to access this funding. Award holders wishing to remain in the UK will be guided by the Research Office on how to switch the project from being an ERC-funded project to being a UKRI-Frontier Research Guarantee funded project. The award will still be portable, but only within the UK. UKRI have provided reassurance that they will honour the original ERC project, as awarded, as closely as possible, within the scope allowed by the new T&Cs.
The UKRI research grant terms and conditions will be attached to ERC guarantee grants, with a small number of additional conditions which will be listed in the specific call guidance. The additional conditions will be the same for Starting, Consolidator and Advanced guarantee grants.
If the award holder wishes to transfer the project to an EU Member state (or associated country), please let the EU and International Team at ROO know and we can work with the project team and the ERC project officer to work through the necessary steps to initiate the transfer.
Q. 19 Do I have to wait for my grant offer letter to apply for my Global Talent visa for my ERC or MSCA project?
No. The endorsing bodies have agreed that the written confirmation of an MSCA/ERC grant required to apply for the Global Talent Visa can be the same documents that you submit to the UKRI guarantee, allowing you to apply for your Global Talent Visa before you receive your UKRI award letter. The advice is
"If you have received your successful results in all eligible ERC/ MSCA guaranteed calls, but don’t have a Grant Agreement because you are submitting your grant details to UKRI in order to receive funding through the Horizon Europe guarantee, then you can submit the following documents with your Global Talent visa endorsement application: either a) a copy of the European Research Executive Agency GAP invitation letter and a copy of the grant proposal (which contains the individual researcher’s name); or b) a copy of your UKRI Guarantee Grant Offer Letter"
See the UKRI Guarantee Guidance and Royal Society’s FAQs on the Global Talent visa for further information.
If you have further queries about the Global Talent visa, please email globaltalentvisa@ukri.org