— Updated 9 December 2024 —
United Kingdom
The UK is associated to the Horizon Europe and Copernicus programmes since 1 January 2024. UK organisations can now participate in Horizon Europe calls for proposals on the same terms as organisations from other Associated Countries, including leading consortia and receiving EU funding. The only parts of Horizon Europe that UK applicants are not able to participate in are EIC Accelerator projects and some limited exceptional cases where the call text limits participation to only EU member states or certain other countries.
Further information:
- Gov.uk – UK Association to Horizon Europe and Copernicus programmes: explainer
- UK Research Office Brussels
If you have a UK-based partner with whom you are planning a collaborative proposal, there is a new seed funding scheme available from the British Academy, which may be of interest.
Switzerland
Switzerland is still a non-associated third country, although negotiations are ongoing again. The EU has put in place a transitional arrangement programme for 2024, which allows Switzerland-based researchers to apply for ERC Advanced Grants as beneficiaries, and in 2025 this will extend to ERC Starting, Synergy, Consolidator and Proof of Concept Grants.
For other parts of the programme, the Swiss partner should still be listed as a beneficiary in a consortium and with the budget of the Swiss partner included in the total amount of project funding requested by the consortium from the EU.
A financial guarantee for 2025 by the Swiss government is in place, to fund Swiss participants in collaborative projects. The financial guarantee covers funding for researchers and innovators based in Switzerland (including companies and SMEs) for their participation in eligible projects as associated partners from a non-associated third country. The funding will be directly paid by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) for all eligible calls of Horizon Europe and the Euratom programme.
Further information
Other countries
The European Commission keeps a helpful webpage with updates on the association of third countries to Horizon Europe, including the exploratory discussions with like-minded countries beyond Europe.
If you are looking for guidance or clarification on what any of this means for your specific research proposal, you are welcome to contact John Phillips (john.phillips@fs.lu.se) or Rickard Eksten (rickard.eksten@fs.lu.se) at Research Services.