Funding cuts and uncertainty leave UK researchers in the lurch
Financing of research and Horizon Europe programme thrown into turmoil by millions of pounds worth of cuts
The UK’s science community is urging the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to match funding to rhetoric, as arguments continue over who pays for association to the European research programme, Horizon Europe.
This year’s bill could be anywhere between £1–2 billion, potentially taking up to 20% of UK Research and Innvoation’s (UKRI) budget. The uncertainty – with just days to go before the end of the financial year – compounds a last minute 70% cut to research programmes paid for from the international aid budget, which was itself cut by 30% last year.