There was a surprise epilogue to George Freeman’s second stint as the UK’s science minister when, a week after he stepped down, the government announced a £250 million mid-career fellowship scheme.
Those who heard the Mid Norfolk MP repeatedly stress the need for “really bold fellowships” to rival the generous awards from Germany’s Max Planck Institutes will have few doubts about where the impetus for the Royal Society Faraday Discovery Fellowships, worth up to £8 million each, came from.
However, Mr Freeman’s ambition to attract the world’s best global scientific talent took a step back a week later when the new home secretary, James Cleverly, announced plans to raise the minimum salary needed to get a skilled worker visa to £38,700 – above the typical starting salary of a UK postdoc, potentially jeopardising a much-travelled route for early career researchers coming to Britain.
Such twists and turns were nothing new to Mr Freeman, whose two years as minister saw a few setbacks as well as big policy wins – not least the UK finally agreeing to rejoin the Horizon Europe research programme.
