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At the time of writing (June 2023), the UK has not yet associated to Horizon Europe, however it remains the priority of UKRI, ERC, and Commission colleagues to conclude the association.

In the meantime, the UK government announced a new scheme that guarantees funding for successful applicants to Horizon Europe grant awards regardless of the outcome of the UK’s efforts to associate to Horizon Europe. This guarantee funding of UK Government covers successful Horizon Europe applications submitted to calls with a final submission deadline date on or before 30th September 2023 in the event that they cannot sign a grant agreement with the European Commission or delegated party because the UK’s association has not been formalised in time, and therefore cannot receive funding.

The latest edition of the guarantee guidance from 8th June is now available Here is a summary of changes from the latest three updates (17th April, 22nd May, 8th June): 

  • scope of Guarantee extended to cover funding opportunities with final deadlines up to and including 30th September 2023
  • applicants to the EDCTP3 funding opportunity closing on 29 June 2023 are advised to apply as ‘Partners’ and not ‘Associated partners’ in order to access the guarantee
  • claims process for HEIs/charities/public sector bodies for grants hosted on IFS now changed to profiled payments made quarterly with reconciliation every 4th quarter
  • rules for cost category/budget shifts for IFS-hosted grants and project change request requirements 
  • terms and conditions for ERC/MSCA grants 
  • portability of live ERC grants to the UK – please contact UKRI for review 
  • maternity, paternity, adoption, and parental leave for ERC grants 
  • research data sharing and management costs allowed 
  • Horizon Europe research data sharing and management policy adherence 
  • project deliverables should be made available to UKRI upon request 
  • independent accountant’s reports allowable costs for IFS-hosted grants 
  • prizes defined as out of scope
  • international tuition fees now allowable costs on all guarantee grants (q26)
  • open access costs chargeable to guarantee grants (q27)
  • guarantee grants expected to adhere to Horizon Europe open access policy (q28)
  • parental leave for MSCA guarantee grants covered by additional funding streams and process for requesting (q80)

Please note that 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.

Calls that are part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) or European Research Council (ERC) schemes will be covered by individual calls launched on the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system after the results of the original EU calls are announced. All other eligible Horizon Europe calls will be covered by the Innovation Funding Service (IFS) system.

 

EU collaborative R&D calls in scope of the guarantee - IFS funding application routes

One IFS guarantee funding application route for all EU collaborative R&D calls in scope of the guarantee whereby the last legal date for signing grant agreements is expected to pass before 31 December 2022 except for 2022 EIT-KICs.

One IFS guarantee funding application route for all EU collaborative R&D calls in scope of the guarantee with final application submission deadlines from 1 May 2022 up to 30 September 2023 except for 2022 EIT-KICs.

IFS guarantee calls will remain open as long as necessary to enable all eligible applicants to complete their submission.

 

Funding routes for successful applicants to the 2022 MSCA Doctoral Networks

Call opened on Je-S on 11 April 2023. Please note that we will require the signed Horizon Europe grant agreement submitted as an additional attachment to the Je-S submission. Further details can be found in the MSCA section below.

 

Funding routes for successful applicants to the 2022 ERC Advanced grants

Call opened on Je-S on 17 April 2023. Further details can be found in the ERC section below.

 

MSCA Doctoral Networks ERC Advanced grants

The Je-S guarantee systems will remain open for 12 months. UKRI reserves the right to close any of the guarantee calls earlier than this, but it will be communicated in advance through the guidance pages. Before any of the calls are closed, guarantee funding applicants will be given due notice.

 

EIT KIC 2023 activities

For the costs of 2023 activities, access to be funding under the guarantee will open shortly.

 

2023 ERC Proof of Concept

 

Funding routes for successful applicants to the latest 2023 ERC Proof of Concept round can apply through Je-S from 12 May 2023.

 

For detailed guidance on how to apply, please see the Horizon Europe guarantee notice and guidance page.

 


On 20th July 2022, the UK Government published a paper entitled: Supporting UK R&D and collaborative research beyond European programmes. Details include a continuation of the UKRI underwrite, a series of interim measures to be adopted should the UK not associate to Horizon Europe and an outline of what a possible longer-term UK-based replacement to Horizon Europe might look like should the UK not associate. 

The EU and International Team at ROO have produced an overview document of the UK Government’s measures to support the R&D sector to help researchers manage their applications in the event that the UK does not associate.  

On the 6th of April 2023, UK Government set out its prospectus programme called ‘Pioneer’ to protect and support UK research and innovation sector, should it be required. Government is still discussing association to Horizon Europe with the EU, and hoping the negotiations will be successful. Association is their preference, but it is stated that the association would need to be on the basis of a good deal for the UK’s researchers, businesses and taxpayers. If they are not able to secure association on fair and appropriate terms, they will implement Pioneer as a bold and ambitious alternative. Please follow this link for further details on Pioneer including its four key Pillars: UK publishes prospectus for opportunities beyond Horizon Europe

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. UK institutions are still eligible. The current situation does not affect your ability to apply and has no bearing on the evaluation of applications. Please make sure that in the submission stage of your proposal you are included as co-ordinator or partner (beneficiary) to the project, not an Associated Partner. Conversion to Associated Partner status will be an option at the Grant Agreement preparation process once the application is successful.

 More details from the EC can be found here. UK Institutions can also still apply to lead EC consortia but, until the UK fully associates to the Horizon Europe Programme, it is imperative you consider potential alternatives to ensure the continued eligibility of the project should it be successful and the UK has not associated by the time the award is announced. Also, you should consider including this issue in your proposal’s risk management strategy.

If you would like more information on this, please contact the Research Development Team for your School.

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. There are some options available but the most appropriate one is often that UK institutions are being moved to Associated Partner status on successful collaborative grants.

As long as the scheme you have been awarded under is listed as one of those covered under the underwrite, it will be possible to reassure the Lead that UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) will underwrite the UK partners’ funding that they would have received from the Commission. Once on UKRI funding, it is our understanding that UK partners will remain on that funding for the duration of the project, regardless of when UK association takes place.

 

Q. 4 - Why do I need to change to Associated Partner status?

As the UK has not yet associated to Horizon Europe, entities based within the UK cannot be beneficiaries to EU grant funding. However, Horizon Europe funding allows entities to be based in third countries (which the UK is until it associates to Horizon Europe) to fully take part in Horizon projects – in most instances this is as an ‘Associated Partner’. Associated Partners in third countries must fund the entities within them – UKRI is doing that through its underwriting scheme.

 Please liaise with EU & International team before taking any action to switch your status into Associated Partner.

Q. 5 - Should I accept Associate Partner status as quickly as possible to guarantee my UKRI funding?

Not necessarily. While we do not advise delaying unreasonably the transition to associate partner status (and we are mindful that some coordinators are placing extreme pressure on some partners to change very early), once a UK partner is funded through the UKRI underwrite, it will remain on that funding for the entire duration of the project. This means that, should the UK associate to Horizon Europe after a UK entity has accepted associate partner status, but before the project has begun, it will still have to stay on that funding stream regardless of the UK’s new status. However, should there be any developments concerning joining back to the consortium in the event of association during the lifetime of the project, we will update you.  

Q. 6 - 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. 7 - How do I access funds via the UKRI underwrite?

UKRI is accepting submissions from successful Horizon Europe Awardees via the JeS 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 systems (please visit UKRi website for open calls), 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 (via JeS or IFS), 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 IFS system 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.

For Je-S, the submission is handled through the PIs account and submitted through to the Submitter Pool. ROO will then submit the proposal to UKRI in line with normal processes.

Q. 8 - Is there a chance I will not get approved for UKRI funding?

Provided you submit the required documents as outlined in UKRI’s scheme-specific guidance, you have a 100% chance of receiving the funds from UKRI if your grant is part of the first or second wave schemes in the UK guarantee.

A list of the schemes covered by the guarantee so far is available on the UKRI website.

Q. 9 - How will the funding from UKRI work in practice?

UKRI is delivering the funding through its grant systems. The Terms and Conditions of UKRI guidance on how to apply for below grants are now released. 

European Research Council (ERC):

  • Proof of Concept 2022
  • Starting Grants 2022
  • Synergy Grants 2022
  • Consolidator Grants 2022

Grants will be subject to the standard UK Research and Innovation fEC grant terms and conditions; however, the additional grant conditions will be added. Please check How to apply for ERC grant guarantee funding document for the details explaining how to apply and currency conversion tools for each grant.

 

EIT-KICs

 

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

 

 

 

Grants will be subject to the standard UK Research and Innovation fEC grant terms and conditions; however, the following additional grant conditions will be added to this call. Please follow above linked how to apply documents for more details.

 

All other eligible Horizon Europe grants

Awardees should use IFS to apply for guarantee funding for:

  • collaborative research and innovation grants under pillars 1 and 2
  • European Innovation Council funding opportunities under pillar 3 (excluding KIC’s 2022 activities)

Grants with final application submission deadlines from 1 May 2022 up to 30 June 2023apply for ‘Horizon Europe Guarantee Extension’ funding using IFS.

Grants whereby the last legal date for signing grant agreements is expected to pass before 31 December 2022: apply for ‘Horizon Europe guarantee’ funding using IFS.

 

Supporting documents

 

Q. 9b - What will be the names of ERC and MSCA grants funded by UKRI that can be used for visa application purposes?

The project will be funded solely through UKRI and there is a requirement that the award holder recognise it formally as an UKRI award. This means that the awardees will need to relinquish the right to officially call it an ERC / MSCA project.

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 scheme names will be included on the list of approved schemes for the Global Talent Visa, where appropriate.

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For ERC-only projects

There may also be implications for portability of the awards, with UKRI-ERC Starting, Advanced and Consolidator awards only portable between institutions within the UK.

Grants funded through the guarantee will be portable within the UK according to UKRI standard terms and conditions. Awardees of ERC Starting, Consolidator and Advanced grants through calls included in the guarantee funding who applied to be hosted outside the UK may move their project to the UK and be funded through the guarantee, subject to the conditions set out in UKRI underwrite.

For collaborative projects

There are a few different options, depending on the project, but generally the Grant Agreement will be signed between an eligible lead institution and the other eligible institutions will become signatories to the Grant Agreement as normal. The UK institutions will most likely be assigned Associated Partner status which means they do not become a signatory to the Grant Agreement with the EC, but do continue to be recognised as part of the EC-funded Consortium. Once the Grant Agreement is at least signed by the EC and the consortium lead, the UK Partners will then submit this to UKRI in order to access their portion of the funds from UKRI. It is worth noting that UK partners will still need to sign up to any consortium agreement between the project’s partners as before.

Q. 10 - Will the UKRI funding be more or less flexible that EC funding?

We are awaiting final Terms and Conditions for the different schemes covered by the underwrite, however, initial indications are that the terms will closely align with UKRI terms. Some additional conditions are likely to tbe included to try and mirror the EC conditions.

UKRI have indicated there is going to be some enhanced flexibility as a result of this hybridisation, compared to standard UKRI terms, but the extent/scope of this is still to be clarified.

Q. 10b - 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 and 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. 10c - 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 the Application Details. It is recommended that you wait until you receive the Grant Offer Letter before you start incurring costs against the grant because if costs are incurred before this point, it is at your own risk.

Q. 11 - How fast will approval happen once my project is submitted on the UKRI portal?

For grants hosted on IFS, the expected processing time through the IFS calls will be a maximum of 90 days. There is scope for this to be faster, but that will be the maximum. The processing team will do their best to prioritise those with sooner start dates, but this will be dependent on the volume of grants in total.

For Je-S grants, the anticipated time to grant offer is around 7 weeks from the date of submission: we will aim to prioritise those looking to start their awards soonest as far as possible.

However, as with UKRI and EC grants, 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 here in ROO.

Q. 12 - Do I have to use the exchange rate stipulated by UKRI in the guidance?

Yes. While the text in the guidance indicates there may be some flexibility, UKRI have confirmed that the stipulated exchange rate must be used. 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. 13 - Why can't I see the requirements for my grant preparation on the EU portal?

For specific queries about your grant preparation, please speak to the EU and International team who can support you through the process.

Q. 14 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 sent several letters in which they ask the award holder to decide whether to:

relinquish the offer of funding from the ERC, upon which you could then receive UKRI funding

or 

transfer the grant to an eligible institution within an EU member state/Associated Country

It is unclear if and when the UK will associate prior to the deadline set up by the ERC to sign the Grant Agreement. PIs should consider the options as outlined in the EC letters.

The award holders will or have already received a further communication indicating that if a request for transfer is not communicated by a certain date, the grant preparation of the project will be terminated.

If the award holder wishes to remain in the UK it is not necessary to “give up” the ERC award at this stage. 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 Funding guarantee calls are currently open for ERC StG/COG/AdG 2021 and POC22 grant holders.

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. 15 Do I have to wait for my award letter in order to apply for my Global Talent Visa for my ERC or MSCA project?

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 MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship or ERC grant 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.  

Contact the Research Operations Office European Team:

Assistant Director, EU & International

Daniel Wunderlich


Head of EU & International  
Selda Ulutas Aydogan


For ERC

ercgrants@admin.cam.ac.uk


For Marie Skłodowska-Curie Matters 

mscagrants@admin.cam.ac.uk


For EU Financial Reporting matters:

ecgrantsfinance@admin.cam.ac.uk


For other EU matters:

horizongrants@admin.cam.ac.uk


 

The University's EC PIC code: 999977172