Labour to spend £54m to recruit up to 80 foreign researchers covering 100% of relocation and visa costs for dependents
The new £54 million Global Talent Fund will recruit a total of 60-80 top researchers (both lead researchers and their teams) to 12 UK universities, working in the 8 high high-priority sectors critical to our modern Industrial Strategy, including life sciences and digital technologies.
The Global Talent Fund is just one part of over £115 million in funding to attract top talent to the UK. The researchers will be recruited by 12 of the UK’s leading universities and research institutions, across all 4 nations.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, The Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP and Lord Vallance provided a statement that said, “By bringing the very best minds in fields that will be critical to the future of life and work to the UK, we can pave the way for the products, jobs and even industries that define tomorrow’s economy, to be made and grow in Britain.”
From Argentine César Milstein’s work on antibodies, to Hong Kong-born Sir Charles Kao who led the development of fibre optics, through to German Ernst Chain’s efforts to make penicillin usable in medicine, there is a long pedigree of overseas researchers making great breakthroughs whilst working in the UK.
“We want the UK to continue to be the natural home of the very best science and research, the world over,” said the government statement.
Talent costs covered
The £54 million Global Talent Fund will be equally distributed and deployed across 12 universities over 5 years, starting in 2025/2026. The fund, administered by UKRI and delivered by universities and research organisations, will cover 100% of eligible costs, including both relocation and research expenses, with no requirement for match funding from research organisations. The initiative also includes full visa costs for researchers and their dependents.
The small number of world-class researchers, and their teams, who go on to be supported by these funds, will come to live and work in the UK via existing routes such as the Skilled Worker, Global Talent, and the Innovator Founder visas.
There are no plans to change existing visa routes – and the Immigration White Paper sets out the government’s broad approach to restoring order to the immigration system through the Plan for Change.
“Genius is not bound by geography”
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.”
He continued, “My message to the bold and the brave who are advancing new ideas, wherever they are, is: our doors are open to you.”
The institutions selected to deliver the Global Talent Fund are:
- University of Bath
- Queen’s University Belfast
- University of Birmingham
- University of Cambridge
- Cardiff University
- Imperial College London
- John Innes Centre
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
- University of Oxford
- University of Southampton
- University of Strathclyde
- University of Warwick
In addition to this fund, two fellowships have been launched, aimed at bringing groundbreaking AI research teams to UK organisations and labs: the £25 million Turing AI ‘Global’ Fellowships, as well as a UK-based expansion of the Encode: AI for Science Fellowship.
More funding
Alongside this, two new fast-track research grant routes have been announced by the National Academies – including £30 million from the Royal Society for a Faraday Discovery Fellowship accelerated international route, part-funded by their £250 million DSIT endowment.
The Royal Academy of Engineering has announced a similar fast-track international route, as part of its £150 million Green Future Fellowships endowment from DSIT – this funding will ensure the UK competes for the best global talent in science and research. While researchers looking to relocate to the UK can also benefit from the Choose Europe scheme, thanks to the UK’s association to Horizon Europe.
To attract top foreign AI research talent, the UK will offer Spärck AI scholarships, which will provide full funding for master’s degrees at 9 leading UK universities specialising in artificial intelligence and STEM subjects. These scholarships will open for applications in Spring 2026.
The government said,
We also support postgraduate research broadly, with £500 million UKRI funding supporting over 4.700 students at 45 higher education institutions to study projects in biological, engineering and physical, and natural and environmental sciences.
Professor Irene Tracey CBE, FRS, FMedSci, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, said:
“In 2021–2022, our science parks, knowledge exchange, and the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine contributed to a £6.6 billion boost to the UK economy, with our spinouts supporting over 31,600 UK jobs.”
She continued, “Globally, the AZ vaccine is estimated to have saved over 6 million lives in its first year, resulting in a worldwide health economic impact of £2 trillion. The Global Talent Fund will draw internationally recognised experts to Oxford, building capability for future innovation and growth in the Industrial Strategy areas we have prioritised.”
