Following on from our communications about how the UKRO team would support UK engagement in Horizon Europe in 2025/26, UKRI is now in a position to communicate further changes to Horizon Europe-facing functions, and the steps we are taking to provide support to all Research and Innovation sectors participating in Horizon Europe funding.
Current support to end of 2025-26
As UKRI, we continue to support UK engagement in Horizon Europe by delivering expert advice through National Contact Point support services, and providing news and monitoring policy developments in EU Research and Innovation programmes.
We are working to:
- Provide National Contact Point (NCP) services – for UK research and innovation communities on behalf of the UK Government.
- Provide high quality resources and advice on Horizon Europe and COST –through the UKRO online portal and enquiry service.
- Provide effective support for Research Managers – through several regional in-person events, led by European Advisors, and hosting NCPs across a range of schemes as well as guests from the European Commission, DSIT and UUKi.
- Monitor European Research and Innovation policy and provide policy insights and providing accessible information to support R&I communities participating in Horizon Europe.
- Advocacy and engagement with a range of stakeholders in Brussels and the UK, from a UK base – to work across related organisations, ensuring gathering and sharing of intel to support the UK’s engagement in Horizon Europe as an Associated Country.
Evolving our model for supporting Horizon Europe engagement
We are making changes to the ways in which UKRI supports UK engagement in Horizon Europe; led by a new Associate Director for Europe, NCP services delivered by UKRI and Innovate UK, and the UKRI Guarantee now sit closer together, with the aim to provide more seamless support to all sectors engaging in Horizon Europe.
The importance of Brussels presence in some form has been consistently fed back to us. We are setting up a small team who will be based in Brussels at the UK Mission to the EU. This new office – UKRI Brussels – has a similar operating model to UKRI’s other international offices, and will have a role in policy monitoring, and advocate for UKRI and work with other UK stakeholders to get the best outcomes possible for the UK in Horizon Europe and for FP10.
Sunsetting the UKRO brand
We will gradually phase out the use of the UKRO brand, to better reflect the support that UKRI as a whole is providing for UK engagement in Horizon Europe across the National Contact Points, the Guarantee, and UKRI Brussels.
We recognise the important contribution that UKRO has made to UK participation in European Framework programmes through the subscription service to UK HEIs, and the diligent and expert efforts of those working as part of UKRO.
Although our delivery model will be different, we want to reassure our stakeholders that we are working towards a sustainable delivery model that puts high quality NCP services at the heart. Throughout the transitional period of change, we have also relied on stakeholder input and this will continue to be important as we move into the next phase to fully implement the new team structure.
Future outlook and our continued commitment to support for engaging in Horizon Europe
Our overarching mission remains the same, to deliver expert advice through National Contact Point support services, and provide news and monitor policy developments in European research and innovation programmes.
The UKRO portal is now an open resource accessible to all. We are now in the process of working with our colleagues across UKRI to integrate our web resources and provide a more seamless and supportive experience and are aiming to launch this later in 2026.
NCP services are delivered by UKRI on behalf of DSIT, and we are actively working with DSIT to grow the capacity and innovate the delivery model to provide ongoing support for the rest of Horizon Europe.
Please get in touch with us at ukro@ukro.ac.uk if you have any questions or comments.