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Arma 2022: AHRC chief says UK could negotiate to have “little bits” of both programmes
It is “possible” for the UK to associate to “bits” of the EU’s R&D schemes and at the same time launch its own alternative, AHRC chief Christopher Smith has said.
The EU has continued to block UK attempts to take part in its R&D funding programmes including Horizon Europe. In the event that talks with the EU decisively fail, the UK government has been preparing a plan B—a homegrown alternative R&D funding scheme.
But at the Association of Research Managers and Administrators’ 2022 conference on 15 November, Smith said “very complex” negotiations could make it possible for the UK to associate to parts of Horizon Europe and launch its own scheme as well.
“It is possible that we can think about having little bits of both side of the cake,” he said, “but that depends heavily on very complex negotiations and it is not transparently an easy way forward.”