Mayors accuse government of undermining regional growth as not a single northern institution is chosen
Northern leaders, including the Mayor West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, have criticised the government for breaching its pledge to ‘level up’ the country after it was revealed that no universities in the North of England will receive a share of the £54m Global Talent Fund.
The scheme, run by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is designed to attract world-class international researchers to Britain.
Twelve universities and research bodies across all four nations will share the funding, including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London and Cardiff University – but not a single institution in the North made the cut.
New analysis by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership found that seven northern universities, including Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield, Durham, York and Lancaster, surpassed the fund’s £5m research threshold.
Both Durham and Lancaster also cleared the requirement for at least 35% of academic staff to be international, with Manchester missing by just 0.3 percentage points.
Henri Murison, the partnership’s chief executive, said: “The principle behind the Global Talent Fund is absolutely right – attracting world-class researchers is essential to our future prosperity.
“But it is deeply disappointing that not a single northern university will benefit, especially when the selection criteria were both arbitrary and inconsistently applied. The North is not pleading – it is simply asking for fairness.”
Eight metro mayors, including Andy Burnham, Tracy Brabin and Steve Rotheram, have signed a joint statement warning that the decision “undermines” the North’s role as the UK’s only credible economic counterweight to London and the South East.
“The North is home to some of the UK’s most innovative, high-performing universities,” the statement reads.
“Their exclusion from the Global Talent Fund undermines their contribution to the UK’s economic success and the government’s stated commitment to rebalance our economy.”
The mayors have called for urgent reform to ensure research funding is distributed more fairly and transparently, warning that concentrating investment in the south risks stifling growth across other parts of the country.
UKRI defended the process, saying the awards were based on clear criteria. Science minister Lord Vallance insisted that “genius is not bound by geography” and said the UK remained “open to the bold and the brave” in research, wherever they are.
