Brady calls for greater science funding in annual address

President Hugh Brady called for greater funding and science research to grow the economy and fulf il the purpose of being “useful” in his annual address. Brady’s speech highlighted the lack of government funding towards scientific innovation, as 3% of GDP is invested into research and development. China, according to OECD reports, invests between 10–14% of its GDP into research and development.

Brady linked the government’s upcoming Industrial strategy with Imperial’s own strategy Science for Humanity: he called for the new strategy to use universities and “the UK’s STEM talent pipeline” to facilitate growth. The UK economy has stagnated, with only 0.1% growth in December 2024 following the Autumn budget’s attempt to revitalise the economy.

Additionally, President Brady warned of the dangers of falling STEM graduate numbers both domestically and from the international market, as well as a reduction in students taking STEM subjects at A-Level, saying, “If we are to compete internationally we need a system-wide response to address the crisis in maths and science education in our schools. We must address the Higher Education funding system to cover the costs of a STEM education, and the government’s upcoming immigration white paper must make it even easier for us to attract and retain highly skilled people – both international students and researchers.”