Encourage international talent to support cancer research
To keep discovering new cancer tests and treatments, we need to be able to recruit and retain the best talent and scientific leaders.
Being a global institution is part of what makes us successful and international talent is a key part of our research workforce. More than 35 per cent of our staff are from outside of the UK and we have staff from 67 different countries.
Recent modelling by the Royal Society showed that total upfront visa costs are up to seventeen times higher in the UK compared to the international average. It is simply not sustainable to have barriers of this magnitude in the way of attracting the best global talent when we are competing with the leading universities, institutes and companies across Europe and the USA.
Our ask: The UK needs a visa and immigration system which is competitive with other leading research nations. This is essential for us to continue being internationally leading and to compete with institutes and universities across the world. The Government should support the aim of recruiting international talent and leaders by reducing the costs for researchers, so the UK is competitive with comparable nations.
Advocacy blog posts
The Charity Research Support Fund: An overlooked, and neglected, lifeline for UK science
Ollie Richards, Advocacy Manager at the ICR, explores how a critical element of the Government's research funding – the Charity Research Support Fund – could be reformed to help support more specialist institutions and universities to do life-saving research.
100 days in – what do we need from the Government to enable cancer research to thrive?
We’re now 100 days into the new Government and the ICR’s Advocacy Manager, Ollie Richards, outlines what academic institutions need the Government to prioritise to help us on our mission to continue making the discoveries that defeat cancer.
Latest ICR News
New study explores the use of powerful electron beams to treat cancer
Scientists have explored how a new high-powered laboratory accelerator could one day be used to treat cancer, offering new insights into an emerging form of radiotherapy known as FLASH.
Cancer trials under the microscope: Study finds barriers to inclusion persist in the UK
A new UK-based study is shedding light on a quiet but consequential problem in cancer research: whether some people have less opportunity than others to participate in clinical trials.
Immunotherapy boost can spare more bladder cancer patients major surgery
An immunotherapy helps bladder cancer patients remain cancer free and enables them to avoid surgery, a phase II trial has found.