Tens of millions of pounds will be spent on rescuing UK science and medical research projects at risk from a damaging post-Brexit dispute with the EU.
The threat to grants from the flagship £80bn Horizon Europe programme – which pools talent and ideas to achieve breakthroughs – appeared have been lifted when the UK agreed to remain part of it.
But the deal has been frozen because of Brussels anger over threats to suspend the Northern Ireland Protocol – leading to the UK making “contingency” plans to pull out, to the alarm of scientists.
Now George Freeman, the science minister, has moved to ease fears about scores of UK applications set to be approved within weeks, which would otherwise lose the money.
However, concerned organisations including the Royal Society and Universities UK are waiting to hear full details about exactly which bids will be eligible for the bailout.
The stalemate is also making a pullout from Horizon more likely – despite warnings that it will leave Boris Johnson’s pledge to make the UK a “science superpower”.
Venki Ramakrishnan, a Nobel prize winner and then-president of the Royal Society warned last year that the UK cannot achieve the same success by working alone.
In a statement, Mr Freeman admitted that “valuable international collaboration on shared global challenges, like climate change” is in danger.
“We are committed to supporting the UK’s world-class research sector in international collaborations, and this safety net will give researchers and their partners the certainty they need to continue to pursue their project plans and maintain world-class science,” the minister argued.
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