Two years on from the UK’s association to Horizon Europe, new government analysis published on 29 December says Horizon-backed projects were more widely cited and more likely to reach completion. Between 2014 and 2020, UK participants secured €7.8bn across almost 11,000 Horizon 2020 projects.

Commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and delivered by Technopolis, the evaluation also finds that without Horizon 2020 support many projects would have been abandoned, scaled back or moved. For labs and scale-ups, that stability is the difference between a promising paper and an investable product.

The people story shows up first in healthcare. INNODIA’s trial platform and age‑related biomarkers are improving Type 1 diabetes management, with UK contributions from Cambridge, King’s, Oxford, Cardiff and Exeter. For clinicians and patients, that means earlier risk signals and faster trials rather than years of waiting.

There’s a global health edge too. The EBOVAC programme advanced a novel Ebola vaccine through phases 1–3 under the leadership of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine-proof that UK teams can convene complex, multi‑country studies when funding and partners align.

Commercialisation is equally tangible on the roads. Under Horizon Europe’s ESCALATE project, Yorkshire‑based Electra Commercial Vehicles is working with Spain’s Primafrio and Germany’s RWTH Aachen on a 40‑tonne electric refrigerated rig designed to demonstrate up to 800 km between charges on UK and German routes.

For finance directors sizing the opportunity, the official CORDIS record shows ESCALATE’s total budget at about €22.4m, with €16.6m EU contribution and a timetable running to June 2026-useful guideposts for supply‑chain planning in batteries, power electronics and cooling.

Policy support continues into next year. To widen partnerships, the UK will run a 2026 campaign in Spain and Germany, pitching the value a UK partner can add to Horizon bids-sensible targeting given Spanish strength in agri‑tech and mobility, and Germany’s depth in advanced manufacturing.

Momentum is visible at investigator level too. On 9 December 2025, the European Research Council awarded 349 Consolidator Grants worth €728m, with 65 projects hosted in the UK-the largest share of any country in this round, and a useful signal for university hiring plans.

So what should founders and PIs do now? Line up co‑funding early, map export pathways if your prototype has a heavy manufacturing component, and use Innovate UK’s Horizon Hub plus the EU Funding & Tenders partner search to build consortia ahead of the 2026 push into Spain and Germany.