01 Jan 2001
Scottish universities are being invited to bid for a share of a £4 million annual fund designed to attract the world's top scientists to the UK.
The fund, a partnership between the Department of Trade and Industry and the Wolfson Foundation, aims to help ensure that Britain can compete with other countries in attracting and keeping the best scientific talent.
Scotland Office Minister Brian Wilson today urged Scottish Universities to submit bids to the fund.
Mr Wilson said:
"Scottish universities have a background of scientific excellence which makes Scotland an attractive location for top scientists to conduct their research. The substantial additional financial incentives which this fund carries can make a real contribution to attracting and retaining the brightest and best.
"This partnership between the DTI and the Wolfson Foundation will make sure that our universities are in a position to offer competitive salaries to the best international scientists, and also to keep and nurture new talent within Scotland.
"The scheme is part of the Government's wider strategy, outlined in the Science and Innovation White Paper, to make the UK the best place in the world to carry out research.
"Many Scottish universities have been among the beneficiaries of this drive to support scientific research in the UK. For instance, seven Scottish universities received a total of £8.4 million worth of funding for scientific research equipment under the latest round of the Joint Research Equipment Initiative (JREI), and projects at Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities were recently awarded a share of the £125 million of funding made available in the latest round of awards to universities under the Joint Infrastructure Fund.
"Investment in all aspects of ‘knowledge economy’ is the key to Scotland's future economic success. This funding will enable our universities to compete for scientific talent on a global level, helping to consolidate our position among the world's leading scientific nations."
NOTES FOR NEWS EDITORS
1. The DTI's Office of Science and Technology and the Wolfson Foundation are each making an initial commitment of £2m a year over five years to the scheme, whose awards will be known as Wolfson-Royal Society Research Merit Awards. The scheme will be administered by the Royal Society. Further details about the scheme can be found on the Royal Society website at www.royalsoc.ac.uk
2. The awards will be flexible, but could be £75,000 a year to top up the researcher's basic salary and provide some research expenses. It is estimated that 35 new awards will be made in each of the first two years.
2. The Wolfson Foundation is a charitable organisation set up in 1955, with an income of over £35m a year. The aims of the Foundation are to advance the progress of health, education, the arts and humanities. As a general policy, grants are given to act as a catalyst, to back excellence and talent and to provide support for promising future projects which may currently be underfunded. There is a strong emphasis on science, medicine and education which are supported by over half the available funding each year.