Royal Society response to Home Office Tier 1 Fellowship announcement

Responding to the Government’s announcement that it will expand the number of research fellowships eligible for accelerated entry under the UK’s Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa route, Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society, said:

“Fellowships are a small but important part of the research workforce, so today’s announcement is a welcome first step in creating an immigration system that encourages talented researchers from all over the world to choose to work in the UK.

“To maintain our global leadership, with science at the heart of the government’s agenda, we need to attract the best overseas talent to supplement our outstanding home-grown minds.

“This will require replacing the current cumbersome and unfriendly visa system with one that is fair, fast, efficient, and reasonably priced, and which takes into account the long-term aspirations of scientists and their families."