The UK funding guarantee (up to 31 December 2023)

Arrangements are in place to ensure that UK applicants do not lose out on funding - with the UK stepping in to cover the budgets that would have been funded by the EU. If your application (up to and including the 2023 calls) is successful, the following information provides details of what happens next. 

Prior to the UK and the EU agreeing the association deal the University could participate in applications to Horizon Europe calls with the same rights as EU participants. However, UK participants could not sign up Horizon Europe award agreements and UK funding was provided by the UK government (via a funding guarantee).

For 2024 calls, the UK has completed its association to Horizon Europe and the UK is now an Associated Country, meaning that funding now comes from the European Commission.

For successful applications up to and including the 2023 calls, the following arrangements will continue to apply.

Key points: (up to and including the 2023 calls):

Up to date details and guidance: please refer to the UKRI web pages for the latest guidance on applying for UK guarantee funding. Horizon Europe: help for UK applicants and Horizon Europe guarantee and guidance on how to apply. UKRI's support for the guarantee is fully operational, and the teams continue to improve practices.

Notification of Awards: If you are in the fortunate position of being awarded Horizon Europe funding please notify your departmental research support contact as soon as possible. You will then be supported through the subsequent negotiations to ensure that you are able to draw down UK funding, remain within the EC consortium, and put into effect any additional adjustments needed. 

Associated Country v. Associated Partner: Terminology is important.  For all applications the UK must be entered as an Associated Country otherwise it will not be possible to utilise the guarantee. Associated Partner status is not the same as being an Associated Country. Associated Partners are not eligible to receive EC funding and this is where the UK guarantee clicks in. To be able to utilise the UK's guarantee there must have been a request for EC funding and the UK partner must have a defined role and responsibilities (i.e. they apply in the usual way as an Associated Country). 

Scope of the guarantee: The scope of the guarantee was extended regularly due to the ongoing delays with association to Horizon Europe. Once a project is awarded UK guarantee funding this continues for the full duration of the award.

Eligibility: Applicants are eligible if they are part of a consortium or mono-beneficiary call as defined in the list on the UKRI web page, AND they are ineligible to receive funding from Horizon Europe because they were unable to sign the grant agreement  due to the UK’s association status not being formalised in time for the 2023 calls. To be eligible for the UK guarantee funding the UK institution must have

  1. applied as an Associated Country (and not as an Associated Partner), 
  2. requested Horizon Europe funding, and
  3. received notification of the EU's intention to fund.

Evaluation: Applications will have been evaluated through the European Commission’s trusted peer review systems and no further application quality assessment will be undertaken by UKRI.  UKRI is checking eligibility for the guarantee and the budget only.

Running an award: At the award stage, the status of Associated Partner means that the UK does not sign the grant agreement and cannot act as the formal coordinator. Another partner needs to take over this formal administrative coordination role. UK institutions are a party to the consortium agreement and this is adapted to cover the UK's status; there are suggested clauses available. Within a consortium UK participants can provide scientific leadership, for example by leading work packages, overseeing work of other partners, and/or coordinating deliverables and milestones. 

Association to Horizon Europe: For the 2024 calls (with a call identifier showing 2024 and not 2023) and onwards, the UK partners will receive funding directly from the European Commission in the same way as Member States and other Associated Countries.   

COST Actions: the UK remains eligible to apply for, and be funded from, COST. This is outside the scope of association to Horizon Europe and applications involving (or led by) the UK are encouraged.