UK regions dominate H2020 funding
Recent figures have indicated that London and southeast England, UK, have collectively taken more than 40% of the UK’s funding so far from the Horizon 2020 programme.
Statistics published by the UK government show that the regions – and their universities – have dominated the funding received by the country from the scheme.
According to the data, the UK has received €3.3bn in total, which amounts to a 16.6% share of all the Horizon 2020 funding distributed among members of the EU, and there have been almost 6,500 individual UK participations.
UK universities and other education institutions have received €2.1bn from the programme, while other UK research organisations have taken €300m, together claiming 73% of the money going to the UK.
The ‘excellent science’ pillar of Horizon 2020 is where the UK received the most success. The country claims 20% of all commission funding for the pillar.
The regional breakdown highlighted that London secured a quarter of the UK’s total funding with €829m, while southeast England obtained €523m.
Future participation by the UK in EU research funding schemes such as Horizon 2020 is in doubt in the wake of Brexit, although the government has pledged to underwrite the cost of any projects that have already won funding from Horizon 2020.
