Looking to attract researchers from the developed world and from emerging research powerhouses such as India, China, Brazil and Mexico, ministers hope it will help to maintain the UK’s position as a world-leader in science and research.
Speaking at the fund’s launch, Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson, pictured, said: “Research and innovation is at the heart of the government’s Industrial Strategy.” According to Johnson the Prime Minister is determined to make the UK attractive for scientists, innovators and tech investors, “She wants us to be a country that attracts the brightest and best minds,” he said.
Johnson added the Rutherford Fund is intended to send a strong signal that, even as the UK leaves the EU, it will remain open to the world and ‘reinforce the Government’s ambition of making the UK the go-to country for innovation and discovery’.
* In the next issue of New Electronics, the recently appointed Chief Executive of UKRI Sir Mark Walport outlines how UKRI will support the UK’s Industrial Strategy.
