After years of debate, negotiations, and frankly agony for the whole research community, reports have emerged that association to Horizon is looking exceedingly likely if not inevitable.

The crucial sticking point has been how much the UK would contribute to the programme and how much funding it would receive in return. Although the UK will not be net beneficiaries to the same extent it was as a member of the European Union it seems the Prime Minister is on the verge of squaring off the final financial arrangements.

The financial mechanisms to join Horizon Europe are contained within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. It is a complex arrangement but effectively the cost of association is tied to the UK’s participation in specific Horizon programmes rather than a broader participation in the framework. The crux of the negotiation has been on the overall cost of association, the financial benefit the UK may receive, and the benefits the UK may receive given this version of Horizon began in 2021.

The decision to associate will be greeted with enthusiasm across the research community. There have been few, in fact incredibly few, voices that have argued against Horizon association. The interregnum over the past couple of years has been particularly painful.

If association is secured it is the start of a project to partially reintegrate UK science with Europe. It is is certainly not the end of the debate on the UK’s future in Horizon, its relationship with European researchers, or its place in the world.

The first order of business will be for government, universities, businesses, and their partners, to rapidly mobilise resources toward funding calls.The 2023-24 funding call is now well under way with calls for proposals already open. It is not simply a case of organisations rebooting their tender portals but a deep assessment of how their capacity has changed, despite the interim funds, during the period where the UK was not associated to Horizon.

There is also the question of where association to Horizon leaves other research ambitions. Pioneer, the Horizon alternative, had much to be admired in its approach to clusters, people development, and targeted funds. It would be a shame if the government discarded this work entirely. Instead, Horizon could be the base from which the UK could grow its wider global science ambitions.

And before we know it, it will of course be time to consider what participation in Horizon 2027 onwards looks like. One of the weaknesses of the UK’s position was the incredibly short amount of time to build a global research ecosystem outside of Horizon. A Horizon alternative would not have been quick, cost-efficient, and it would have been technically challenging for universities and government.

Now, without the urgent spectre of falling out of the world’s biggest research programme without a viable alternative, there is an opportunity to explore what the UK’s global research footprint looks like in the long-term.