UKRI promotes the importance of inclusive research design and practice, leading to more inclusive and responsible research and innovation outcomes that benefit all parts of society.
Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) should be considered as fundamental to high-quality research and innovation, enabling a healthy culture for people and ideas to thrive.
EDI is a critical aspect of a healthy research culture and should be considered at all stages of the research and innovation cycle; from how the research is designed to how it’s carried out and who is involved, contributing to more inclusive research outcomes.
We need to be flexible and diverse to accommodate that research and innovation are unpredictable, often created through new and unanticipated combinations, and can take many forms.
Diversity and inclusion should be considered in all interactions with research participants and users, for instance when involving people with lived experience and undertaking public and patient involvement and engagement.
We expect researchers to identify the characteristics of any groups in the population who should benefit from their research, design their study accordingly, and provide justification of their approach to inclusion. Researchers and assessors should take a broad view of diversity.
Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and the AREA framework (anticipate, reflect, engage, act) supports inclusive stakeholder engagement to help ensure that research benefits under-represented groups and addresses societal needs and challenges.
UKRI is committed to ethical research and innovation.
The whole research community are key contributors in the research and innovation system, from the lead researcher or innovator to those who keep the lights on or maintain the large infrastructure and equipment in our laboratories, small businesses or on our research vessels. By valuing all, we recognise that a diversity of ideas, opinions, knowledge and people enrich our work and enlarges our knowledge economy.
Equality Act 2010 guidance: the Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. It replaced previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act, making the law easier to understand and strengthening protection in some situations.
Under the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014 it is mandatory for all applications to UKRI-funded Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) funding opportunities to include a gender equality statement.
The following documents outline UKRI requirements and guidance when developing gender-sensitive research and innovation projects:
We have published two evidence reviews on equality, diversity and inclusion which have informed our EDI strategy for a research and innovation system that is ‘by everyone, for everyone’.
MRC embedding diversity in research design: a policy for Medical Research Council (MRC) supported research that involves human participants and their samples or data. It extends to animals and studies that use animal tissues and cells. For animal studies and studies involving human or animal cells and tissues, MRC requires that sex is specified in the experimental design, and that both females and males are used by default. Single sex studies should only be used by exception and must be strongly justified.
Expectations for equality, diversity and inclusion: EPSRC has published an EDI expectations guide to help the engineering and physical sciences community to identify and address EDI barriers in their own environment, taking into account differences such as location, discipline, role, and career stage.
If you receive funding from UKRI you need to follow general terms and conditions which includes EDI for research grants or training funding, and any specific funding opportunity conditions.
UKRI encourage exploring EDI considerations at all stages of the life cycle of a research and innovation project including:
Throughout the project lifecycle you may wish to explore in the context of your own work:
Note the following guidance has not been developed directly by UKRI, but may be a useful resource. Where this advice conflicts with UKRI-produced policies and guidance, UKRI policies and guidance should be followed.
Toolkits from Future Leaders Fellows Development Network: a broad collection of resources related to building inclusive teams, learning about the UK’s research and innovation environments as well as developing leadership skills.
The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Project (Academy of Social Science and the Economic and Social Research Council): a programme to encourage EDI awareness and actions for social scientists
Useful resources for equity, diversity and inclusion (National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE): a broad collection of EDI resources to support inclusion in all activities.
EPSRC’s Inclusion Matters programme include the following resources:
Toolkit for integrating a gender-sensitive approach into research (University of Warwick): toolkit and checklist to ensure gender sensitivity is embedded into your research project.
Guide to inclusive events (University of Oxford, PDF 3.4MB): a practical guide for event organisers, drawing on examples of best practice from across the university sector and beyond.
Last updated: 18 February 2026
