Wales wins EU funding for up to 90 new research fellows

Wales has won £7 million of European Union funding to boost the country’s scientific research.

Up to 90 new research fellows from across Europe will be based at Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth and Bangor universities and the University of South Wales.

The money comes from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND scheme, part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme. It will be matched by £10 million in funding from the Welsh government.

The research fellowships will be targeted at candidates with three to five years of postdoctoral research experience who wish to work in Wales.

Julie Williams, the chief scientific adviser for Wales, said in a statement: “Securing this funding from COFUND against stiff competition from across Europe is a massive vote of confidence in Welsh scientific research.”

Richard Davies, vice-chancellor of Swansea University, congratulated the Welsh government on winning the grant. “The funding provides a timely opportunity for Welsh universities to build upon the excellent science base we already have by attracting experienced research fellows from other countries,” he said.

In the results of the research excellence framework, which assessed the quality of scholarship across the UK last year, Welsh research performed slightly better than average, with 77 per cent of the papers submitted judged as either being world-leading or internationally excellent.

david.matthews@tesglobal.com