Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to support the post-pandemic career development of early career researchers.

The Government invests in research talent through PhDs and fellowship schemes. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the single biggest funder of PhDs in the UK and currently funds between six and seven thousand PhDs per year (around 53% in STEM) through its studentships and training grants, including Centres for Doctoral Training and Doctoral Training Partnerships.

Multi-year fellowship schemes funded by BEIS are delivered both by the National Academies and UKRI and are targeted at different career stages, from early career researchers to research professors and chairs. These schemes support the development and progression of a broad spectrum of researchers and their teams while supporting their excellent research.

The Department is currently working with UKRI on the development of an R&D People and Culture Strategy as one of my top priorities. The R&D People and Culture Strategy will look to ensure the UK has the people we need at all levels, working in a culture that gets the best out of everyone and delivers the best outcomes for the country.  A key part of this will be ensuring the R&D workforce has the capacity and capability to deliver the government’s ambitions for R&D with enough people with the right skills across disciplines, and throughout career stages and job roles.