University of Warwick awarded £4.35 million to attract world-leading research talent

The University of Warwick has been chosen as one of just 12 UK leading universities and research institutions to deliver the Global Talent Fund – a £54 million investment on Britain’s future prosperity.

For their part, the university will receive £4.35 million from the fund to attract and support global researchers working in the high potential Creative Industries sector and drive innovation.

The fund will support recruitment of the world’s brightest minds, to help drive new technological innovations and scientific breakthroughs that will fire up the UK economy and put rocket boosters on the Plan for Change.

The funding will enable Warwick to design its own strategy for recruiting international talent, embedding new research teams within its thriving innovation ecosystem, and driving collaborative createch research that contributes to economic and technological advancement.

Professor Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Warwick, said: “The University of Warwick is known for our world-leading expertise in Advanced Manufacturing and the Arts and this investment will accelerate the development of innovative insights, solutions, products, and services in an inter-disciplinary way. It will also help drive inclusive regional and national growth in the creative industries.

“Through our strong partnerships with SMEs, industry, and local councils, this initiative will play a key role in advancing UK innovation and delivering meaningful benefits to communities across the West Midlands and the wider UK.

“In our 60th anniversary year we are reaffirming our commitment to making a better world together and this funding will further strengthen our determination to deliver our vision.”

Administered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Global Talent Fund is designed to support around a dozen world-leading researchers in bringing their teams to the UK, helping to advance cutting-edge research that will shape the economy of the future. It forms part of a wider £115 million package of support to make the UK the global destination of choice for scientific and research talent.

The other 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

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.”