Key Barriers
Collaboration remains constrained by post-Brexit friction, funding gaps, structural asymmetries and mobility barriers.
Overview
- Post-Brexit friction has raised the transaction costs of collaboration, from visas and mobility to reduced informal networks.
- Funding misalignment: few bilateral instruments are sized for shared infrastructure or multi-year flagship projects.
- Structural asymmetries between institutional systems complicate matchmaking and joint governance.
- Tuition fees and mobility barriers weaken the people-to-people pipelines on which durable research links depend.
Post-Brexit Friction
The UK’s exit from the EU introduced additional friction into what had been seamless collaboration under shared European frameworks. Although the UK has rejoined Horizon Europe and the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, several years of uncertainty weakened informal networks and reduced the density of everyday collaboration. Researchers report increased administrative burden, added complexity in structuring joint projects, and a lingering perception of the UK as a more complicated partner.
Funding Gaps & Misalignment
Existing bilateral instruments are small and geared toward relationship-building rather than delivery at scale. There are few, if any, funding lines designed to support shared infrastructure, reciprocal facility access, or multi-year flagship consortia in AI, quantum, or HPC. National calls are rarely synchronised, making it difficult to assemble competitive binational teams within the same funding window. This misalignment is a recurring theme in interviews with research and policy leaders.
“The instruments we have are excellent at starting conversations, but there is nothing to help those conversations grow into something at scale.”
— Senior research leader, interview
Structural & Institutional Asymmetries
The two national systems differ in how research is organised, funded, and commercialised. In Italy, key infrastructure such as CINECA operates under public ‘in-house’ constraints that limit commercial engagement, while the UK ecosystem is more oriented toward spin-outs and private-sector participation. These asymmetries can complicate matchmaking, intellectual-property arrangements, and the governance of joint initiatives — solvable, but requiring deliberate design.
Talent, Tuition & Mobility
People-to-people links are the foundation of durable research collaboration, yet mobility has become harder and more expensive. International tuition fees for Italian students in the UK, visa costs, and the winding-down of some Erasmus-era pathways have thinned the early-career pipeline. Rebuilding this pipeline through targeted scholarships and scaled short-stay mobility is among the most cost-effective interventions available.