How The UK Has Worked With The European Union On Research Projects

The UK science sector has participated in a number of EU-wide research and funding schemes, including Horizon 2020.

What has been the result of this collaboration?

Here are some key Horizon 2020 statistics – the spending framework for the EU’s 80 billion euro research budget for 2014-2020:

-The UK received £1.52 billion of European Research Council income, more than any other country and a fifth of the total

– Seven EU countries – Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Belgium – and Switzerland, are among the UK’s top 10 international collaborators

– The UK receives more excellence-based funding from Horizon 2020 than any other country

– 33.5% of UK research papers are co-authored with other EU and associated countries, compared with 17.6% with the USA

– The UK co-ordinates more Horizon 2020 projects than any other nation and is involved in more collaborations than all countries except Germany

Some of the projects that EU funding has contributed towards, according to the Royal Society:

– Cure rates for British children with leukaemia are being improved as a result of the IntReAll project involving researchers from Germany and the University of Manchester

– Clean buses with zero emissions operate in London and Aberdeen because of the UK’s participation in hydrogen fuel cell projects funded by the EU

– European Research Council (ERC) research brought jobs to Merseyside with Unilever relocating 80 staff as part of a multimillion-pound investment in a materials chemistry hub with the University of Liverpool

– The world’s largest nanoparticle manufacturing plant in Nottingham was opened by spin-out company Promethean Particles as a result of ERC-funded research

Nina Massey is PA Science Correspondent.