The potential return on EU Horizon funding is making British scientists wary of the future of research.

Before Brexit, the UK was eligible for EU science funding like any other member of the bloc. But confusing, often deadlocked negotiations between the new Brexit country and the remaining EU members have prevented scientists in the UK from accessing the same sources of research funding and collaborating with EU researchers as in previous years.

In particular, the EU approved the participation of the UK in the Horizon Europe program for a total of 95.5 billion euros.

Editorial in a scientific journal this month Nature argued that without addressing this issue and the general issue of UK-EU scientific cooperation, a UK “sound science policy” was “impossible”.

This dissolution could start on Monday. During a joint press conference with Rishi Sunak on the Windsor Agenda, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said that the UK and the EU could “immediately start negotiations on a new scientific collaboration within Horizon Europe”.

Almost all major UK research institutes reacted very positively to this announcement. Dame Ann Johnson, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, stated that “the UK’s participation in Horizon Europe is the best possible outcome for research and the health of people around the world.”

The president of the Royal Society, Sir Adrian Smith, argued: “The sooner we join [the EU research schemes]that’s better”.

Others call for caution. This was pointed out by Ben Johnson, executive director of the University of Strathclyde’s Office of Strategic Research and Innovation and a former government adviser on science policy. I that Sunak clearly failed to repeat von der Leyen’s remark about the Horizon program during Monday’s press conference.

This could point to the prime minister’s unspoken doubts about whether the UK will actually return to Horizon.

Sunak, notes Johnson, was not seen as a proponent of restarting the program as Chancellor; in his campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party, he promised a “better” alternative to Horizon Europe – presumably suggesting that negotiations with Northern Ireland were still a long way off.

Because Horizon is a costly program to enter, it’s also questionable whether it offers value for money versus purely in-house funds, and that might give Sunak pause.

But money isn’t the only thing that matters in science policy: in a time of growing cross-border cooperation, the UK’s reputation will be damaged if it refuses to cooperate with EU countries again.

Researchers themselves, who often make a living from international collaborations, would find the idea of ​​going it alone unacceptable. Johnson notes that Sunak could take the worst financial option possible if it means bolstering Britain’s reputation as a serious scientific heavyweight.

These partnerships will not simply be restored. This was stated by James Wilson, professor of research policy at University College London. I that “the dripping acid of uncertainty” – yesterday’s statement was not necessarily predictable – “has been steadily pushing [the UK] Overall 50% lower” at the level of cooperation with other researchers from the EU.

Wilsdon predicts that even if the UK joins Horizon within a few months, it will take “two or three years” to bring the UK’s scientific engagement back to pre-Brexit levels.

We can expect other benefits while ignoring financial disadvantages: collaboration can also improve the quality of our research. Richard Jones, professor of materials physics and innovation policy at the University of Manchester, said in an email I that “British academic science has been honed through participation in the rigorous European Research Council competitions”.

He also noted that the benefits of UK-EU cooperation extend not only to university research, but also to innovative UK companies “whose participation in supply chains across Europe will be strengthened” when UK-EU cooperation begins.

To be sure, the scientists on Sunak and the new science minister Michel Donelan will exert strong pressure to rejoin Horizon Europe.

It seems more than likely, though not certain, that this push will have the desired effect. As Ben Jonson puts it: “The scientific sector of the UK should not yet open champagne corks, but it has the right to put the bottle on ice.”