On 18 July, 12 UK universities and research institutions were announced to deliver the UK Government’s £54 million fund to recruit top global researchers.
The Global Talent Fund is designed to attract a total of 60-80 top researchers (both lead researchers and their teams) to the UK, working in the eight high-priority sectors critical to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, key to our future prosperity and economic growth.
This fund is designed to support institutions to attract and welcome top global research talent to the UK, in line with our commitment to an open, dynamic and diverse research and innovation system. It aims to strengthen the UK’s research capacity and enhance the long-term sustainability of its research ecosystem, at the heart of global research networks.
The Global Talent Fund starts in 2025-2026 for 5 years. It will be administered by UKRI and delivered by universities and research organisations, who will recruit international research talent based on their strengths against the Industrial Strategy.
Institutions selected to deliver the Global Talent Fund
The institutions 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
Each institution has a track record of recruiting and supporting top international R&D talent and securing internationally competitive research funding for the UK. They will develop approaches and plans to spend their equal share of the Global Talent Fund to attract talent from around the globe in their choice of Industrial Strategy areas, including covering visa and relocation costs for researchers and their family members.
Opportunities for researchers
Selected research organisations are responsible for identifying and recruiting researchers to their organisation. The approach taken will be different at each institution and may include using existing organisational talent schemes, working through external parties and advertising openly.
100% eligible costs will be covered, 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 dependants.
Researchers, and their teams, who go on to be supported by these funds, will come to live and work in the UK via the Global Talent visa.
The Global Talent Fund and other recent UK announcements on global talent
More information about the Global Talent Fund is available on UKRI’s website.
The Global Talent Fund is part of over £115 million in funding dedicated to attracting top talent to the UK including a new Global Talent Taskforce and several fellowship and fast track grant schemes, namely the Turing AI “Global” Fellowships, a UK-based expansion of the Encode: AI for Science Fellowship, the Royal Society Faraday Discovery Fellowship accelerated international route, and the Royal Academy of Engineering fast track international route under its Green Future Fellowships.
The UK Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy supports its Plan for Change.
Choose Europe
Researchers looking to relocate to the UK can also benefit from the European Commission’s €500 million Choose Europe scheme.
Both the new ‘super grants’ for established researchers from the ERC and the awards for postdoctoral researchers under the MSCA Choose Europe for Science pilot can be used to come to UK universities and institutions.