EU scraps 115 grants for UK scientists and academics amid Brexit row

British scientists and academic researchers have been dealt a blow after 115 grants from a flagship EU research programme were terminated.

One academic said he was relieved to be leaving the country and feared the UK would go down a dark path like Germany in the 1930's.

Most of the grants that were approved for British applicants will no longer be granted.

The grants would not be available unless the researchers moved their work to a European institution by the end of June.

The UK has not implemented the trading arrangements agreed under the Northern Ireland protocol, so ratification has been put on hold.

The deadline has passed and only 18 of the 150 academics will take up the grants.

One of the 18 people who decided to move to the EU was Thiemo Fetzer, a professor of economics at the University of Warwick.

The whole process of leaving the UK has eroded my trust in the UK's institutions, so I am relieved.

I am developing an exit strategy from the UK as a result of the ERC being hosted at a great place in Europe. The UK is going down a very dark path and there is a Germany in the 1930s feeling to all.

It is not known how much funds have been withdrawn, but it is likely to be more than 100 million dollars.

The preparation of 115 ERC grants offered to UK-based researchers will be stopped now that the deadline has passed, according to a spokesman for the ERC.

The grants of 18 UK-based researchers will be moved to a host institution in the EU or associated countries after the researchers decide to exercise their right to 'portability'.

Fourteen cases have not been resolved.

Nicholas was forced to give up his coordinating role on the pan- European Marie project because he wanted to play a major role in the European Space Agency's next big observation project.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy guarantees funding for eligible, successful applicants who are expected to sign grant agreements by December 2022.

As per the EU's own guidance, UK entities should in theory be able to apply and participate in projects as we work towards association, it was stated.

The plan B research programme is designed to compete with the EU scheme, and the government has threatened to pull out of it.

There are reports of disagreements between the science minister and the treasury over the funding of the alternative scheme.

The government guaranteed funding for all successful applicants to the first and second waves of the grant. While the UK is in the process of joining the programme, the guarantee scheme is open and provides funding to researchers and innovators who can't get their funding.