On 1 July 2020, the Government announced their Research and Development (R&D) roadmap. The roadmap sets out the Government’s vision to attract global talent, cut unnecessary bureaucracy and cement the UK as a world-leading science superpower.
The key features of the roadmap are as follows:
- Investment: £300 million government investment to upgrade scientific infrastructure across the UK
- Office for Talent: A new Office for Talent will be set up to make it easier for leading global scientists, researchers and innovators to come to the UK
- Boosting international collaboration: The Government will boost international collaboration to ensure the UK benefits from global scientific partnerships
- Close relationship with European partners: The Government will aim to maintain a close relationship with European partners by seeking to agree a fair and balanced deal for participation in EU R&D schemes. If the UK does not associate with programmes such as the EU’s research programme, Horizon Europe, the Government will commit to meeting any funding shortfalls and putting in place alternative schemes to support UK research
- New graduate route: International students who complete a PhD from Summer 2021 can stay in the UK for 3 years after study to live and work. Students who have successfully completed undergraduate and master’s degrees will be able to stay 2 years after study. In addition, when the student route opens this autumn as part of the UK’s new points-based immigration system, there will be a number of improvements which will further streamline the immigration process. These include extending the window in which prospective students can make visa applications, removing study time limits at postgraduate level and allowing all students to switch to another type of visa from within the UK. Existing students and those who start their course this autumn will benefit from these changes, once they have been introduced. The global talent schemewill also be opened up to EU citizens which will allow highly-skilled scientists and researchers to come to the UK without needing a job offer.
The R&D roadmap can be read in full here.