Shaping Global Partnerships The UK is launching a campaign in Spain and Germany to highlight the advantages of collaborating with UK researchers and businesses under Horizon Europe.
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A new campaign aimed at showcasing the benefits of collaborating with the UK's leading researchers, businesses, and academics through the Horizon Europe programme is set to launch in Spain and Germany. Horizon Europe, the world's largest research collaboration initiative, offers over £82 bn in funding through 2027, enabling UK innovators to partner with global counterparts on pressing challenges such as healthcare breakthroughs and AI advancements.
The UK government is eager to leverage Horizon Europe's potential to drive growth and create jobs in emerging industries, in line with its Plan for Change. Notably, UK-led projects like ESCALATE, which focused on developing electric HGVs, have already seen fruitful collaborations with Spanish and German partners. The £19 million (€22m) project, involving Yorkshire-based Electra Commercial Vehicles and partners including RWTH Aachen University and Spain's Primafrio Corporation S.A., opened new markets for sustainable transportation.
The campaign aims to build on this success by connecting UK researchers with Spanish and German businesses, helping them secure Horizon funding and unlock new scientific and commercial opportunities. The announcement coincides with the visit of Spain's Prime Minister to London, underscoring the importance of international research partnerships.
UK Science Minister Lord Vallance said: "Horizon Europe is a brilliant vehicle for advancing world-leading science and research, both in terms of the funding that's available, and the opportunities it offers for innovators from across Europe and beyond to work closely together. I want the UK to be the partner of choice, to everyone involved in the programme. As home to some of the world's greatest universities and research institutes, and with the second-highest number of Nobel prize winners globally, we have deep strengths in R&D. If we pool that strength, everyone stands to benefit – and in today's fast-moving world, it's more important than ever that we do so."
Electra Commercial Vehicles Projects Manager, Stephen Storrar, said: "Initially, as a small company in the UK, we didn't expect to win an EU funded project of this size. Working with partners in academia and industry has given us greater experience of modelling and creating digital twins to enable us to better optimise our products. Coupled with a modular component approach, and collaborative efforts within the project consortium, we will be pushing the boundaries of possibility in the heavy-duty electric truck arena. The funding and project structure has really helped to enable our advancement and open doors to wider markets."
Florian Pampel, Research Associate at RWTH Aachen University, said: "As part of the ESCALATE EU project we collaborated among others with Electra on the development of a standardized battery-electric powertrain. During our definition and design of a modular and scalable battery layout, Electra's expertise on various vehicle-related technical features and constraints proved highly valuable. This synergy has resulted in a trustful relationship, also with the other consortium partners involved, which will enable further joint activities beyond the scope of the project."
