UK research organisations attract new wave of 10 leading international researchers, and new performance stats highlight UK's progress as part of Horizon Europe.
- UK research organisations attract new wave of 10 leading international researchers to drive breakthroughs in clean energy, life sciences and advanced technologies through UKRI's Global Talent Fund.
- Expansion of the Global Talent visa to around 100 businesses by July set to fast-track research and boost growth.
- New performance stats highlight UK's progress as part of Horizon Europe, with share of funding climbing to 9.3%.
The UK is cementing its status as a global magnet for cutting-edge scientific research, with a cohort of ten leading researchers set to take up new roles supported by the Global Talent Fund.
Launched last summer with 8 researchers previously announced, the Fund's dedicated pot of £54 million looks to attract top international talent to the UK to drive forward their work in critical areas like Life Sciences, Clean Energy, and AI - all vital strands of the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy.
Among the latest cohort are:
- Professor Bryony DuPont (joining Strathclyde from Oregon State University, US), who will use AI to improve energy systems and make them more resilient to our changing environment.
- Dr Ivana Bukvin (joining the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, from Stanford University, US) will pursue research into proteins which improves our understanding of ageing and neurodegeneration to help tackle diseases like Huntington's.
Today is a key milestone for the Global Talent Fund, with all 12 Global Talent Fund research organisations having successfully recruited international candidates, demonstrating strong delivery against initial programme objectives.
In a further boost to the UK's support for international researchers, UKRI is expanding its Global Talent visa fast-track route.
At the start of June, the Global Talent visa will expand to cover the remaining Association for Innovation, Research and Technology Organisation members (including IBM), supporting the innovations which improve lives and create jobs across the country. By the end of July, this will expand to around 100 R&D-intensive businesses across the key high growth sectors from the Industrial Strategy including Advanced Manufacturing, and Digital and Technologies.
The news comes as the latest figures from Horizon Europe - the world's largest research and innovation programme - show UK research and international collaboration going from strength to strength.
The report, covering Horizon 2020 (2014-2020) and the first three years of Horizon Europe (2021-2024), finds that the UK's share of funding rose from 5.8% in 2023 to 9.3% in 2024.
Participation has also increased, with the share of proposals rising from 18.9% to 24%. Higher Education institutions accounted for a large share of the gains, contributing significantly to the UK's success in securing funding.
However, there is still ample opportunity to drive this collaboration further forwards with partners under Horizon Europe.
Successful projects to have secured Horizon Europe grants to date include:
- Coordinated by the University of Glasgow VectorGrid-Africa is a €6.1 million Horizon Europe project. It establishes the first ever network to monitor mosquito borne diseases across East and Southern Africa. The project will use data to enable rapid detection of invasive species, emerging diseases and genetic changes such as insecticide resistance. This could enable earlier detection of emerging risks, improved disease forecasting, and stronger local scientific capacity.
- BLUECOAT (€3.5m Horizon Europe, launched Oct 2025), led by the University of Birmingham, is developing highly durable surface coatings to reduce emissions and pollution in the maritime and construction industries. This will deliver significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and harmful pollutants.
UK organisations can apply for Horizon Europe funding to make their ideas reality.
