Opportunity objectives
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the British Academy jointly invite applications for an interdisciplinary team to establish and lead an equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) caucus.
The caucus, which is made up of practitioners and researchers from a broad range of disciplines and sectors, will be responsible for providing high quality research evidence on EDI that informs policy and practice in the research and innovation system.
The objectives of the EDI caucus are as follows:
- provide insights from research evidence on EDI that informs and shapes the work of the funders, and the broader research and innovation sector
- address priority evidence gaps by commissioning and undertaking new research and by supporting UKRI and the British Academy in testing and evaluating new EDI-related initiatives
- promote, coordinate and facilitate interdisciplinary approaches to research on EDI.
The leadership team will be expected to establish the caucus by recruiting an interdisciplinary network of practitioners and researchers on EDI and delivering a programme of work following an initial three-month co-design phase with UKRI and the British Academy.
Proposal requirements
Proposals are invited for an interdisciplinary research team that would:
- recruit a network of practitioners and researchers from a broad range of disciplines and sectors to support evidence needs and inform policy and practice within the research and innovation system. This will involve designing and managing a process through which researchers and practitioners will apply to be part of the caucus and enable members to play an active role in shaping the programme of work
- deliver a programme of activities focused on synthesising existing evidence on the effectiveness of different EDI practices. This could include translating evidence into actionable guidance for decision makers and practitioners in the research and innovation system, and undertaking new research to address priority evidence gaps
- administer a flexible commissioning fund to support new research projects that are aligned with the aims of the caucus. This could include exploring new data opportunities, trialling and evaluating new practices, and researching lived experience
- support UKRI and the British Academy by providing rapid evidence briefings and advising on the testing and rigorous evaluation of new EDI initiatives
- inform EDI policies and practice in the wider research and innovation system (for example, higher education institutions, the business sector, and government partners) through proactive engagement.
What we will fund
Up to £3,650,000 (80% full economic cost) will be available for the following:
- a principal investigator (or two co-principal investigators working as a job share) who will serve as the academic lead or leads for the EDI caucus
- co-investigators who together with the principal investigator (or co-principal investigators) will form the leadership team for the caucus
- a project manager who can act as a point of contact for the funders and coordinate caucus’ activities, including:
- communications
- briefings
- research commissioning
- impact tracking
- postdoctoral research assistance that may be pooled across small research projects or used to provide academic input into the provision of evidence briefings and reviews
- a flexible commissioning fund of at least £750,000, that the caucus leadership team would manage and use to commission research activities that address priority evidence gaps.
- estates and indirect costs relating to staff employed to support the caucus
- funding for travel, subsistence and venue hire for events held by the caucus as well as for meetings with key stakeholders
- the cost of any external communication, including website development.
The funders will award 80% of the full economic costs of the proposed activity up to £3,650,000. The applicant’s organisation must agree to fund the remaining 20% of the activity’s full economic cost (up to a total of £4,562,500 full economic costs).
Equipment
For items of equipment costing between £10,000 and UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) equipment purchase threshold value (£115,000 excluding VAT), the research organisation will need to provide extra justification for these items in the ‘Justification of Resources’ attachment, providing evidence of an evaluation of the use of existing relevant capital assets to confirm why this existing equipment is not sufficient.
Host research organisations are expected to make a contribution towards the cost of the equipment in the order of 50% of the cost, therefore equipment should be costed at 50% of the full cost only.
All requests for items of equipment costing above the UKRI equipment purchase threshold (£115,000) should be accompanied by a two-page business case (to be included as an attachment within the equipment screen and not the attachments section) outlining the strategic need for the equipment.
UKRI will decide the strategic location for these items and will potentially fund them at 100%.
The ESRC will have flexibility in relation to the funding of 13 equipment to negotiate with potential grant recipients to achieve best value from the limited funds at its disposal.
For all items of equipment requested above the UKRI equipment purchase threshold (£115,000) three equipment quotations must be provided.
Where you believe that there are less than three potential suppliers for an item you should explain this in the ‘Justification of Resources’ attachment and upload two blank documents as equipment quotes.
For items of equipment which cost less than the UKRI equipment purchase threshold it is optional to provide quotations and up to three can be uploaded.
Social surveys
Social survey costs that are being sub-contracted should be included under this section and are eligible for full economic cost exception funding at 100% (for the amount sought from the council).
Other directly incurred costs
Other directly incurred costs include justified:
- project specific consumables
- consultancy fees
- equipment costing less than £10,000
- recruitment
- advertising costs.
About the flexible commissioning fund
This devolved funding is to be awarded to caucus members for small projects (typically less than £100,000).
It is expected that these projects will be scoped in collaboration with user communities and agreed with the funders.
This commissioning fund should be included in the application costings, with applicants specifying the total size of the fund according to the balance of research activity that the leadership team propose to undertake directly versus devolve to network members via the fund.
Project duration
Applicants should apply for funding for up to three years, and the grant must start no later than 31 January 2023. The usual three-month leeway may not apply as we will not allow a delay to this start date.
Leadership team requirements
Proposals should set out how applicants have expertise or skills in:
- working respectfully and collaboratively across disciplines and diverse stakeholder groups, including approaches to stakeholder engagement
- co-designing research programmes with non-academic partners, including an awareness and appreciation of their operating contexts
- evidence synthesis, the ability to produce and commission evidence reviews, systematic reviews, and evidence gap maps to inform policy and practice as well as identify areas for new research activity
- impact evaluation, the ability to support UKRI and the British Academy with testing and evaluating new EDI initiatives, with a focus on counterfactual impact evaluation
- producing rapid, actionable guidance for non-academic audiences
- building networks and facilitating on-going dialogue with a broad range of stakeholders
- conducting research on EDI issues across the breadth of the research and innovation system, including the business sector and business-led innovation, and awareness of how EDI challenges vary within different parts of the system
- ability to draw on evidence from a range of relevant research fields. This might include, but is not limited to:
- artificial intelligence and data science
- anthropology
- behavioural science
- cognitive neuroscience
- design
- engineering and physical sciences
- ethics
- evaluation science
- law
- linguistics
- organisational behaviour and management studies
- psychology
- sociology
- commissioning research to address priority research questions and evidence gaps.
What to include in your proposal
Proposals should also set out:
- the leadership team’s understanding of the main stakeholders and the key challenges and opportunities around EDI in the research and innovation system
- key topics and priority evidence gaps for the research and innovation system identified by the proposed leadership team as areas of potential focus for the EDI caucus in year one. This proposed focus should allow for the generation, synthesis, and sharing of high quality evidence on the effectiveness of different EDI practices
- an EDI plan to underpin how the caucus operates. This should give consideration to:
- the recruitment of caucus members
- how the leadership team will engage caucus members
- career development of any staff, such as the programme manager and any postdoctoral researchers that are employed to support the caucus
- the leadership team’s approach to engaging stakeholders
- plans for stakeholder engagement that recognise the groups and institutions involved in supporting EDI improvements in the research and innovation system
- a proposed process for:
- allocating funding for new research projects via the commissioning fund
- overseeing and embedding the activities that are supported by the caucus.
