Australian universities have renewed their campaign for Canberra to join Horizon Europe, amid doubts over the reliability of the US, their top foreign research partner.

Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thomson said that, at the very least, Australian authorities should find out how much it would cost to associate with Europe¡¯s €95.5 billion (?80.8 billion) research funding programme. ¡°Just ask the question,¡± she said. ¡°They¡¯ve never even done that. Here is an opportunity waiting for us.¡±

Horizon Europe describes itself as ¡°the most open and by far the largest research and innovation programme globally¡±. It supports projects of far larger scale than most countries can afford through domestic or even bilateral funding.

Research teams from outside the European Union can participate in research consortia under Pillar II of Horizon Europe, which has a total budget of €53.5 billion, if their countries contribute to a funding pool that generally provides larger returns. Australian researchers were bewildered to learn that their government had quietly ended talks to join the scheme in mid-2023.

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New Zealand, which associated with Horizon Europe several months earlier, expects its contributions to cost around NZ$50 million (?22 million) over five years. It secured shares of €36 million of research contracts in its first year, and has since joined additional partnerships researching brain health and pandemic preparedness.

Canada, which has a similar research output to Australia, allocated CA$147 million (?80 million) over four years to join Horizon Europe last July. Seventeen other countries and territories have associated with the scheme, with more to follow.

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The European Commission has stressed its willingness to resume discussions with Australia. The EU¡¯s ambassador to Australia, Gabriele Visentin, in an interview with The Australian newspaper in March.

Arguments to join Horizon Europe have gained impetus after at least seven Australian research contracts were suspended by American partners or government authorities, following interventions by the Trump administration. The US has historically been Australia¡¯s biggest research partner, funding hundreds of millions of dollars of research work each year.

In a recent?interview with the ABC, foreign minister Penny Wong said the world had changed and Australia needed to find different partners. ¡°In the context of both trade and other engagements such as research, we have to work at diversifying our relationships.¡±

Trade minister Don Farrell has said he also plans to reopen talks for a free trade agreement with Europe.

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Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy said New Zealand¡¯s?own free trade agreement discussions with Brussels had provided a platform for joining Horizon Europe, and Australia should follow suit. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t Australian researchers and Australian know-how want to dial in to the biggest funding opportunity on the planet?¡±

UA has estimated Australia¡¯s joining costs at about A$150 million (?71 million), Sheehy said. ¡°We know we¡¯ll get at least A$300 million in benefit from it.

¡°With the US becoming increasingly unreliable, be it through trade but also the interventions we¡¯re seeing to¡­funded research, it really is a no-brainer that the Australian government find a more reliable funding partner. And that would be the EU. They play by the rules, and Australia wants to play by the rules.¡±

The Australian Academy of Science the government to join Horizon Europe. It said Australia should ¡°diversify risk¡± by expanding its research and development collaborations ¡°with responsible countries, regardless of the US administration¡¯s actions¡±.

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com