Horizon Europe webinar: values, not just funding

Good research should not be restricted by geographic or political boundaries. That is why, in the midst of the damage caused to UK higher education by Brexit, the decision to rejoin Horizon Europe in 2023 was a welcome step.

When reassociation with Horizon Europe was announced, the LSW’s President, Professor Hywel Thomas FLSW, said: “The chance to work seamlessly with our European colleagues again will be a huge boost for science in Wales and the UK.”

The importance of such collaboration is one of the key themes of our forthcoming early career researchers’ webinar, ‘Opportunities for ECRs in Horizon Europe and COST’.

“This is an important topic for us,” said Dr Barbara Ibinarriaga-Soltero, the LSW’s Programme Manager, Researcher Development. “Yes, it will provide invaluable information to early career researchers who may be unsure about what funding is open to them post-Brexit.

“But just as important is that it demonstrates how, as an organisation, the LSW is resolutely internationalist in outlook. We are committed to partner with organisations, such as Welsh Higher Education Brussels, that can equip researchers with the best resources available.

“Our five-year strategy commits us to strengthen multidisciplinary connections, within Wales and beyond. This event helps put those words into practice.”

The webinar will discuss European Commission funding opportunities, including Horizon Europe, and will benefit both researchers, and those who support them, in developing bid applications.

There will a specific focus on the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Programme, which supports networking and collaboration between researchers across Europe, and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral Fellowship, which is for researchers moving within Europe or coming to Europe from another part of the world and is open to researchers from the UK.

There will be a chance to discuss these programmes and more with Professor Yvonne McDermott Rees FLSW (Swansea University), who will chair the event and share her experience as a European Research Council (ERC) awardee.

Other speakers include:

• Ilse de Waele, a Project Adviser at the European Research Executive Agency
• Emanuele Volpi, Legal Manager of the European Research Executive Agency Unit A3 Unit 3 of the Agency?
• Judith Litjens, Policy Advisor at COST
• Catherine Marston of Welsh Higher Education Brussels