Scientists in UK receive £500m for research since rejoining EU scheme

British scientists have been awarded almost £500m in grants since rejoining the EU's Horizon science programme after a three-year Brexit lockout.

- Lisa O'Carroll

As the EU plans the next seven-year funding cycle, the UK is hoping its success in the first 12 months since returning to Horizon will allow it to dominate European science alongside Germany and France.

Projects ranging from research on brain catheters inspired by wasps to creating aviation fuel from yeast have catapulted the UK to the top of the league of non-EU beneficiaries of grants. Nearly 3,000 were awarded to British science projects in 2024, the first year of associate membership after a three-year pause caused by a Brexit row over Northern Ireland.

"I am absolutely over the moon that we are back in the programme formally," said Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, a professor of medical robotics at Imperial College London.

Rodriguez has completed a 15-year Horizon-backed research project inspired by a conversation with the zoologist Julian Vincent about the ability of wasps to penetrate hard tree bark to lay eggs.

Rodriguez decided to try to reinvent the process for neurosurgery to create a tiny catheter to penetrate the skull and treat brain tumours.

Taking stock of the £80bn Horizon programme, Prof Sir John Aston, the pro-vice-chancellor for research at the University of Cambridge, said he hoped the embargo "never happens again".