Starting in the 2025-2026 financial year, the Global Talent Fund will run for five years and attract experts from a range of industries.
12 universities and research institutions, across the UK, have been selected to take part in the Global Talent Fund, which will see each organisation use part of a £54m investment to recruit key researchers in eight high priority sectors.
The aim is to attract roughly 60 to 80 qualified experts in critical fields, for example the life sciences and digital technologies, in order to have the ‘best minds’ working on the projects that will further expand the UK’s industries, economy and ambitions.
Organisations will have equal access to the £54m fund, which will go towards enabling the world’s foremost researchers and their teams to establish themselves in the UK. This includes visa and relocation costs for participants and their families.
The 12 institutions participating in the programme for the 2025-2026 financial year, are the University of Bath, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Birmingham
University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, Imperial College London, the John Innes Centre, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Oxford , University of Southampton, University of Strathclyde and the University of Warwick.
Commenting on the news, Science Minister Lord Vallance said, “Genius is not bound by geography. But the UK is one of the few places blessed with the infrastructure, skills base, world-class institutions and international ties needed to incubate brilliant ideas and turn them into new medicines that save lives, new products that make our lives easier and even entirely new jobs and industries.
“Bringing these innovations to life, here in Britain, will be critical to delivering this government’s plan for change. My message to the bold and the brave who are advancing new ideas, wherever they are, is, our doors are open to you. We want to work with you, support you and give you a home where you can make your ideas a reality we all benefit from.”
Professor Sir Ian Greer, the president and vice-chancellor at Queen’s University Belfast added, “We are proud that Queen’s has been selected as one of the 12 institutions to deliver the Global Talent Fund. This funding will allow us to bring world-leading researchers to Northern Ireland in priority areas such as advanced manufacturing and cybersecurity, fields that are vital to our economy and to the UK’s global competitiveness.”
Similarly, the Irish Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless, TD, recently announced the launch of Global Talent Ireland, a new initiative which aims to attract “outstanding international research leaders to Irish higher education institutions and public research bodies”.
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