This recognition places him among 75 exceptional research leaders set to receive a £101 million funding allocation. This funding aims to address critical global challenges and facilitate the commercialisation of groundbreaking innovations within the United Kingdom.

Paul Hufe said, ‘I am extremely honoured to receive this fellowship. The FLF lifts the vault for my research agenda on inequality and fairness in labour markets. I want to express my deep gratitude to my collaborators, mentors, and, of course, my fabulous colleagues at the School of Economics in Bristol.’

The Future Leaders Fellowships, a flagship initiative by UKRI, represent a concerted effort to empower universities and businesses in nurturing their most promising early career researchers and innovators. The programme also endeavours to attract fresh talent, including individuals from international backgrounds, to contribute to various institutions across the UK.

Since its inception from 2018 to 2021, the FLF scheme has awarded nearly 500 fellowships, signifying its profound impact in cultivating the next cohort of world-class research and innovation trailblazers.

Regarding what Paul hopes can be achieved with the Fellowship, Paul said, ‘I hope that our work will lay the foundation for new reporting standards on inequality that incorporate the fairness preferences and perceptions of the public. Furthermore, all data will be made available to the research community.

‘I hope this project will spur interdisciplinary research on fairness in labour markets that will allow us to identify sources of perceived unfairness in different countries across the globe. This project helps support policymakers in implementing reforms, to align income distributions with the preferences of the public.’