Strategy

EPSRC EDI action plan 2026 to 2029

From:
EPSRC
Published:

Our aim, approach and priorities

This equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) action plan 2026 to 2029 is an evolution of our EDI Action Plan for 2022 to 2025, which was published alongside the first edition of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) EDI Strategy. To achieve the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) plans for EDI, we will work across UKRI to collectively build our evidence base and advance our shared ambitions.

The aim of this action plan is to create an inclusive and welcoming research and innovation environment that benefits everyone in UK engineering and physical sciences (EPS) research and innovation. An environment that provides space for freedom of speech in line with existing academic principles. Where people can contribute fully due to a sense of belonging. Where people are well networked, well supported and have opportunities for growth and development, producing the best results for the UK.

The aims of this action plan are to:

  • stimulate an inclusive and outstanding research system in the UK that advances knowledge, improves lives and drives growth
  • address challenges specific to our EPS community, in partnership with key sector stakeholders, while working with UKRI colleagues on research and innovation sector-wide challenges
  • understand the EDI challenges considering protected characteristics (for example, age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sex and sexual orientation) as well as other characteristics, such as socioeconomic background, and develop EDI actions that improve the system for everyone
  • recognise and support a diverse range of career pathways and roles within EPS research and innovation
  • continue to work in partnership with research organisations, businesses, and the learned and professional societies to achieve our EDI aims
  • develop, pilot and implement new interventions, evaluating their effectiveness along the way and commit to sharing good practice with our community

Our approach

A key component of our action plan is working in partnership with our community, research organisations, businesses and the learned societies and professional groups. This is crucial to creating an inclusive and welcoming culture within EPS research and innovation. Our actions within this plan can be categorised into four main types.

These main types of action are:

  • providing leadership
  • partnering with others to develop and implement initiatives
  • influencing other stakeholders’ interventions
  • empowering and supporting our community to take action

The type of action expected will be identified throughout the plan.

Within our plan we will set out:

  • early thinking on what a good outcome would look like for EDI in the EPS research and innovation community
  • our expectations of universities, collaborating organisations, research and innovation team leaders and individuals
  • our actions grouped into five action sets

We have included actions where we expect to work with UKRI colleagues:

Action set 1: evidence and evaluation

Taking an evidence-informed approach to our EDI work.

Action set 2: improving our own assessment practices

Embed inclusive practices in the way we work, improving our own assessment processes and practices.

Action set 3: empowering our community

Empowering our community to support an inclusive and welcoming environment by embedding good EDI practice in our investments, working in partnership with the EDI Hub+.

Action set 4: knowledge of EDI challenges

Growing our knowledge on EDI challenges including socioeconomic inclusion, mid-career leadership and inclusive flexible careers.

Action set 5: widening participation

Promoting a more inclusive environment that ensures greater access and participation, where people can contribute fully with a sense of belonging.

What does good look like and what do we expect

In our previous EDI action plan, we set out the EDI challenges. In this action plan, we are:

  • setting out what good would look like for the people participating in a welcoming, inclusive and diverse EPS research and innovation system in the UK
  • looking at how we can measure this, including the intersection of characteristics
  • comparing this to the current position

Some illustrations of the qualitative and quantitative data we can use are included here. However, this is not straightforward and needs more work to gather this data at the level of EPS sub-discipline or regional level, where what good looks like may differ.

We recognise that the impact of changes and interventions takes time to emerge. In some areas, we propose both medium and long-term goals. We acknowledge that not all long-term aims can be met within this three-year plan. Improving diversity is a gradual process, influenced by attracting more school pupils, especially young women into EPS early, and by creating pathways for students from disadvantaged backgrounds or with disabilities to pursue doctoral education. To retain talent and future-proof UK national capability, inclusive leadership and flexible career pathways are essential. Our first action is to develop a fuller picture of what good looks like. The detail is in Annex 1.

In Annex 2, we also set out our expectations for research organisations, collaborators, team leaders and individuals. The expectations are a framework for conversations with universities and our grant holders to facilitate embedding EDI across organisations. EDI advances only succeed as a collective endeavour.

Improvements in EDI will need participation from everyone in the community, and our aim is that everyone feels welcome and is able to thrive. We recognise that it is a challenging time for the higher education sector. However, we expect research organisations to continue to support diversity and inclusion, as this is even more important in financially difficult times.

EDI is already embedded in our work

Many of our EDI interventions presented in our previous EDI action plan 2022 to 2025 and from our work before 2022 have been developed and implemented. These are now business as usual for EPSRC. We summarise these activities in ‘EDI in our business as usual work’, to be read as background to this plan.

Diversity data collection and analysis

Within this action plan we will continue to take an evidence-informed analytical approach. We will use the best available evidence from research, data, practical implementation and experience to inform our decisions and continuous learning.

We actively investigate our funding portfolio, building our analytical capabilities and publishing our quantified findings to facilitate shared learning, insight and knowledge exchange. We partner with expert groups to support intersectional analysis of our portfolio data, such as the statistical analysis by the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) and The Alan Turing Institute. This enables us to gather new insights into our portfolio to better understand barriers to participation and mitigate against them.

To date our doctoral training portfolio investigations have used diversity data collected via the:

  • doctoral student annual monitoring survey on applicants, those interviewed, those offered places and those who accept places
  • Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) studentship portal (until summer 2025) and the UKRI studentship data system (since late 2025) on actual UKRI-funded students

The diversity data investigations have included the following characteristics:

  • age
  • disability
  • ethnicity
  • gender identity
  • nationality
  • religion
  • sex

We use Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) population data as a comparison.

Our research grant portfolio investigations have used data from the Je-S system to report on principal investigator and co-investigator roles, as well as peer reviewers and panel members. These roles are also known as ‘project leads’ or ‘project co-leads’. Through the UKRI Funding Service we collect information where provided on:

  • age
  • disability
  • ethnicity
  • gender identity
  • religion
  • sex
  • sexual orientation

However, this is only mandatory for project leads. Other roles are strongly encouraged to complete the personal information, but it is not mandatory.

The 2023 to 2024 UKRI equalities monitoring report only included funding opportunities which use the Je-S system. This is because of the high number of unknowns in the data for roles other than project leads, leading to statistically uncertain results.

There are no planned developments to the Funding Service concerning diversity data collection.

All diversity data collected via the Funding Service is used for monitoring purposes only and not for selection (unless specifically stated otherwise in the funding opportunity). Peer review assessment panels do not have access to the diversity data of individuals.

Action set 1: evidence and evaluation

What does good look like

In 2026, we will develop a detailed quantitative and qualitative description of what good would look like for EDI in the EPS research and innovation system. This will provide an expert and inspirational vision for the whole community to work towards. We will review and refine this description as the picture moves over the duration of the action plan and beyond.

When

Year 2026 to 2029.

Action type

  • leadership
  • partnering
  • influencing

Evaluating our mixed gender panel policy

We will evaluate the impact (direct and indirect) of EPSRC’s mixed gender panel policy on the broader community and peer review process. This will help us to decide whether to continue the policy or to develop a similar approach for participation by ethnicity. Since its launch in 2016, we have seen an increase (from 18% to 33%) in the proportion of women on funding panels.

When

Year 2026 to 2027.

Action type

  • leadership

Partnering with the Royal Statistical Society

We will build on our partnership with the RSS to support the intersectional analysis of our portfolio data. We will build on the published work to understand more about the EDI issues in our portfolio and share this with our community so we have a common evidenced view of EDI challenges.

Further recommended investigations based on the findings of the initial statistical analysis by the RSS include:

  • exploring how the research and innovation system is changing over time
  • considering demographics of different research organisations (Regional, Transparent Approach to Costing peer group) and the impact on success
  • expanding the analysis of applicant characteristics to consider the full composition of the applicant team, rather than only the lead applicant
  • exploring how diverse applicant teams are and if this is changing over time
  • exploring the extent to which evidence of a link between prior success in an application and improved outcomes in subsequent applications is due to the strength of applications and the extent to which it is due to established researchers tending to disproportionately attract funding
  • a focus on gender disparity across research areas by education and career stage
  • a focus on disaggregated data across EPS disciplines with a long-term view of developing strategies tailored to discipline specific challenges

We will seek to understand both the disparities between different groups and the variation within groups in applicants’ success, using an intersectional approach specifically:

  • age
  • indicators of career stage where possible
  • discipline area
  • ethnicity
  • grant funding amount
  • region
  • sex

When

Year 2027 to 2029.

Action type

  • leadership
  • partnering

Developing an economic impact analysis

We will work with colleagues across UKRI and expert stakeholders to explore and develop an economic impact benefits analysis of scaled-up EDI interventions in EPS to ensure they are adding value to the UK system. This action will be UKRI-led.

When

Year 2026 to 2029.

Action type

  • partnering

Explore how artificial intelligence (AI) impacts EDI

We will work with colleagues across UKRI to explore and understand how AI, including large language models, is impacting inclusion and EDI issues, evaluating both opportunities and risks. This action will be UKRI led.

When

Year 2026 to 2029.

Action type

  • partnering

Action set 2: improving our own assessment processes and other practices

Assessment of EDI

We will refresh our approach to the assessment of EDI within our grants ensuring a streamlined and proportionate approach. For example, we will work with consortia grant holders to develop EDI approaches in detail after grants are funded.

When

Year 2026 to 2028.

Action type

  • leadership
  • empowering

Peer Review College training

We will develop Peer Review College member training to include managing bias and objective decision-making, to broaden participation in peer review and improve the quality of expert assessments, while taking care not to overburden people. We will encourage research organisations to share reviewing responsibilities more equitably.

When

Year 2026 to 2027.

Action type

  • leadership
  • empowering

Incentivising reviewers

We will incentivise reviewers by giving recognition for high quality useable reviewers’ reports. For example, EPSRC Peer Review College member letters will be sent to the highest performing reviewers and their Pro Vice Chancellor from the EPSRC Executive Chair.

When

Year 2026 to 2027.

Action type

  • leadership

Funding opportunity pre-announcements

Where feasible we commit to using funding opportunity pre-announcements or a published look ahead at funding opportunities coming up in the next quarter. This is to support application planning and improve the process for applicants.

When

Year 2026 to 2027.

Action type

  • leadership

Good decision-making in peer review

We will further develop our practices and policies to be more inclusive, reduce cognitive overload and to enhance decision-making including:

  • limiting the number of proposals assessed at a panel and improving the quality of reviews
  • exploring how to return reviewers’ comments for amendment (functionality not currently available in the Funding Service)
  • embedding inclusive ways to set up and run panel meetings (incorporating our neuro-inclusive guidance) and providing training for panel convenors and chairs
  • exploring other interventions to make the interview process more inclusive for everyone, going beyond using live captions
  • training for panel members on how to listen to answers and adapt for different candidates’ needs in interviews

When

Year 2027 to 2028.

Action type

  • leadership
  • partnering

Improving diversity of our applicant pool

We will explore how we can level up support for applicants to funding opportunities, to ensure an inclusive system.

We will work with business improvement colleagues to ensure that our peer review guidance is clear and understood by the diversity of potential applicants and those involved in assessment.

We will provide greater transparency about how panel decisions are made to strengthen trust in the assessment process.

When

Year 2028 to 2029.

Action type

  • leadership

Flexible models of leadership

We will work with the UKRI funding policy team to create a policy that facilitates flexible models of leadership and increased eligibility on research and training grants. This will help to support a greater diversity of career paths. Detail to be given in the specific funding opportunity. This builds on our pilot with the EDI Sharing hub funding opportunity and the findings of the Thrive project to advance ways of working in research teams. This action will be UKRI-led.

When

Year 2026 to 2027.

Action type

  • partnering
  • influencing
  • empowering

Impact of new approaches to peer review on inclusivity

Working with colleagues across UKRI, we will monitor and evaluate the outcomes of new peer review approaches (for example, expert panels, partial randomisation and strategic banding) to understand their impact on inclusivity. Ensuring that actions to speed up the peer review process promote inclusion and do not disadvantage people. This action will be UKRI-led.

When

Year 2026 to 2029.

Action type

  • partnering

Action set 3: empowering and supporting our community to embed good EDI practices

Inclusive research

As research progresses and the outputs and outcomes emerge, we will ask research teams to aim to create solutions that are inclusive and accessible to all and do not lead to inequality. Where appropriate the research teams should adjust their research to ensure this.

We will incorporate this into the UKRI framework for responsible research and innovation (RRI) and for inclusive research design.

We will work with the Royal Academy of Engineering on inclusive engineering to ensure that engineering products and services are accessible and inclusive of all users and ethically and sustainably designed. This may include:

  • a new definition of inclusive engineering outcomes
  • guidance
  • checklists
  • a forum
  • community training

We will work with our partner learned societies to expand the reach of this work beyond the academic community.

When

Year 2026 to 2027.

Action type

  • partnering
  • influencing
  • empowering

Accessibility of research infrastructure

We will work with the EPSRC Research Infrastructure theme to improve accessibility to large-scale facilities, strategic infrastructure and equipment that EPSRC supports. This will include developing the advisory role of Accessibility Ambassadors who will visit and work with our infrastructure investments on accessibility and inclusion.

When

Year 2026 to 2027.

Action type

  • leadership
  • empowering

Diversity challenges in critical technologies

We will support all EPSRC research themes with their EDI plans. Where there are urgent challenges such as a persistent absence of women in critical tech, high growth sectors (for example, AI, quantum and data science fields), we will act to ensure inclusive practices are embedded in our investments.

When

Year 2026 to 2029.

Action type

  • leadership
  • empowering

Greater accessibility of working environments

We will work with EPSRC research themes, (the EDI hub+ and learned societies) to ensure greater accessibility of working environments for researchers with disabilities and accessibility challenges. This will include:

  • improving lab and workspace accessibility and inclusion as well as refining our support (policies and practices) to help facilitate this
  • developing ‘what good looks like’ case studies to upskill and inspire others in our portfolio to make changes to improve accessibility and create welcoming inclusive environments
  • introducing accessibility plans (and active monitoring) into a small number of the most relevant funding opportunities and schemes

When

Year 2027 to 2029.

Action type

  • leadership
  • influencing
  • empowering

EDI in responsible research and innovation

We will work with our UKRI colleagues to ensure RRI through the lens of EDI is considered in all training material and guidance. We will be updating the material on the UKRI Good Research Resource Hub. This action will be UKRI-led.

When

Year 2026 to 2028.

Action type

  • partnering
  • empowering

Preventing bullying and harassment

We will work with our UKRI colleagues to improve awareness of bullying and harassment, its impacts and how it can be prevented across the sector. This action will be UKRI-led.

When

Year 2026 to 2029.

Action type

  • partnering

Supporting people with menstrual health

To enable more people who menstruate to remain in research and innovation we will work with UKRI EDI Caucus (EDICa) to provide menstrual health support guidance to our investments. This will include supporting menstruating people up to and during perimenopause and menopause. We will use the BSI Standards guide on menstruation, menstrual health and menopause in the workplace. This action will be UKRI-led.

When

Year 2027 to 2029.

Action type

  • partnering
  • empowering

Actions with the EDI sharing hub

We commissioned the EDI Hub+ to work with our community to identify and share good practice. This was an activity our community requested as a follow-on to the Inclusion Matters EDI work.

Actions we expect to be completed by the EDI Hub+, working in partnership with us, over this action plan period include the following.

Community of practice

We will connect research organisations to create an EDI ‘community of practice’ network across the UK.

Measuring the impact of EDI

We will develop robust evidence-based evaluation approaches, success metrics and community guidelines to measure the impact of new EDI interventions and to strengthen accountability and impact.

Good practice with evaluation

Using data gathered from community engagement, we will evaluate good practice on ‘what works’ to improve EDI across the sector.

Scale up

We will advise on how interventions might be scaled up, embedded, evaluated and broadened across the community to support EDI.

Digital resource repository

We will develop a digital online resource repository of EDI good practices and resources building on and evolving the EPSRC EDI expectations guidance and toolkit.

Guidance on allocating funding

We will provide guidance and a toolkit for EPSRC investments with devolved funding (for example Network+ awards) to ensure transparency and fairness when allocating funds.

Good practices for supporting applicants

Building on EPSRC’s previous work investigating the role of university selection processes on our portfolio, we will gather and highlight good practices for supporting applicants, as well as the support and development available for people not selected. We will help this by building communities of good practice and linking with existing networks such as the UK’s Association of Research Managers and Administrators.

What good looks like for accessibility

We will create good practice guidance, a checklist, and training materials for applicants, reviewers and panel members on what good looks like for accessibility within EPS research environments. This will be aligned with EDICa and the Disability Access in Laboratory Environments project.

Sharing findings for better inclusion

We will share findings on flexible fund projects for example on neuro-inclusion, building on EPSRC previous work, to ensure inclusive practices.

Expectations for grant holders

We will expect all EPSRC large investment holders, including Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs), networks and Research Hubs, to demonstrate proactive leadership and ensure the inclusion of EDI considerations throughout the lifetime of the funding. This is with the expectation of learning over time to ensure our flagship investments are beacons of good inclusion practice.

Action set 4: developing our knowledge of EDI challenges

Challenges to socioeconomic inclusion

We will explore how socioeconomic background affects the participation, mobility and success of people in research to understand the challenges in widening participation in our investments. We will have a focus on home doctoral students (action set 5), ensuring EPS skills and future workforce for the UK. We will work in partnership with stakeholders (including, for example, The Sutton Trust and the Social Mobility Commission) to understand the challenges to socioeconomic data capture and analysis and to learn from their work.

When

Year 2026 to 2027.

Action type

  • leadership
  • partnering

Workload models in academia

We will determine how universities are addressing workload models in academia and explore what work is in progress, to understand the impact of our funding policies. This will show how we can work with research organisations to promote greater inclusion and retention, especially of women.

We will survey universities to understand how academic work is distributed across colleagues in our community and how this varies by:

  • age
  • disability
  • ethnicity
  • sex
  • people with caring responsibilities
  • flexible working practices

We will examine the prospect of universities providing a short ‘career restart’ support fellowship or similar to help people re-establish their research careers after an expected or unexpected break or slow down.

We will review our policies for supporting people with expected and unexpected career breaks and how to re-enter into academia and catch up again.

We will explore how parental leave and shared parental leave is accommodated and how adjustments are made in principle and in practice. Including the approach to enhanced maternity and paternity pay and leave, to understand how this feeds into retention and research performance for people at this life stage.

We will investigate how universities are supporting the career development of mid-career researchers (MCRs), particularly women, and exploring opportunities for providing enhanced support. MCRs navigate challenges of rising expectations and increasing workload responsibilities, with growing administrative and leadership demands. This leads to their own development needs being pushed aside while many of the early career support structures have fallen away.

When

Year 2026 to 2028.

Action type

  • leadership
  • partnering
  • influencing
  • empowering

Understanding challenges international researchers encounter

We will broaden our understanding of the challenges that EPS international doctoral students and researchers encounter as they progress their careers within an international system. To help them fully contribute and thrive in the UK.

When

Year 2027 to 2028.

Action type

  • leadership

Supporting LGBTQ+ colleagues

We will explore if further support is needed for LGBTQ+ colleagues. In particular to support the inclusion of transgender people in our community as they progress their careers following the UK Supreme Court ruling on the meaning of sex in the Equality Act (2010). We will work with other stakeholders, particularly learned societies, LGBTQ+ special interest groups, and charities such as Pride in STEM, as appropriate.

When

Year 2028 to 2029.

Action type

  • leadership
  • partnering

Participation in research for disabled people and those with health conditions

Building on the work of EDICa, we will raise awareness and mitigate against barriers to participation in research for:

  • people with hidden disabilities
  • people with chronic or short-term health conditions that prevent certain lab work
  • pregnant women working in research areas where lab work would need to be suspended due to risks

Such conditions are often misunderstood and not seen as disabilities that meet the requirements for reasonable adjustments. This means some people do not receive the recognition and help they need to feel included and progress their career. This action will be UKRI-led.

When

Year 2026 to 2028.

Action type

  • partnering
  • influencing
  • empowering

Action set 5: Widening participation activities shared with our talent portfolio

Tech Expert stipend uplift pilot

We will run the Tech Expert stipend pilot for UKRI-funded CDTs and doctoral focal awards in critical technologies recruiting in 2026. We will test the effects of an uplift to a stipend to over £30,000 on attracting more UK home students from a greater diversity of backgrounds.

When

Year 2026 to 2027.

Action type

  • partnering
  • influencing
  • empowering

Value of a doctorate

We will run a campaign to attract a greater diversity of graduates into doctoral education. This will be part of our actions to increase doctoral applications from home students. As part of this work, we will focus on the value of a doctorate to students, to employers, to society and to the UK economy.

When

Year 2026 to 2027.

Action type

  • leadership
  • partnering

Vacation internships

We will provide over 500 additional vacation internships through our doctoral landscape awards for summer 2026 to support many more undergraduates to experience research. This will include students from less research-intensive universities. This opportunity is focused on attracting more UK home students into doctoral education. We will monitor and evaluate outcomes and explore a further expansion in future years.

When

Year 2026 to 2027.

Action type

  • leadership
  • empowering

Outreach activities to widen participation

We will help identify opportunities to amplify messaging that attracts a broader and more diverse range of people to EPS doctoral training from varied entry points and career paths. We will inspire students early on to influence choices at GCSE, A-level, undergraduate, and similar academic stages.

We will engage with our doctoral training portfolio to strengthen understanding of current efforts promoting STEM careers and doctoral study.

We will explore collaborations with national STEM outreach and education initiatives to influence and advocate for widening participation. We will seek to partner with businesses along with UKRI-funded organisations such as:

We will also work alongside equivalents in the devolved nations.

When

Year 2026 to 2028.

Action type

  • partnering
  • influencing
  • empowering

Impact of socioeconomic disadvantage on doctoral education

We will collect socioeconomic background data through our annual doctoral student monitoring reports, collating university level data and linking to HESA data and learned society data sets, to consider the impact socioeconomic disadvantage has on doctoral education and wider career paths.

When

Year 2026 to 2028.

Action type

  • leadership

Media fellowships

We will explore media fellowships (or similar) as a route to increase advocacy, curiosity and widen participation in EPS careers.

When

Year 2027 to 2028.

Action type

  • leadership

Evaluating vacation internships

We will evaluate the effectiveness of vacation internships to attract more people into doctoral education, ready in time for planning the next university doctoral landscape awards in 2027.

When

Year 2027 to 2028.

Action type

  • leadership

Inspiring the next generation

We will investigate creating an award for doctoral students focused on telling the story about why their research matters, the potential impact and why pursuing doctoral study. This will attract and inspire the next generation of EPS students ensuring we future-proof needed skills for the UK.

When

Year 2027 to 2028.

Action type

  • leadership
  • partnering

Interactive career tracking

Work with the UKRI Talent team to explore the development of an interactive career pathway map, across the research and innovation landscape, showing movement of individuals between disciplines and sectors, by role and demographics. This action will be UKRI-led.

When

Year 2027 to 2029.

Action type

  • partnering

Annex 1: Initial thoughts on what good looks like

What does good look like for a research and innovation system where everyone feels welcome, included, that they belong and are able to progress their careers?

Overall

Long term target

The research and innovation community in EPS would be very similar in terms of characteristics to the UK population, after taking into account the population of international researchers.

Through qualitative data, the people we are supporting feel welcome, able to fully participate in research and have a sense of belonging. We recognise that what good looks like may look different across disciplines, infrastructure heavy fields or applied versus theoretical domains.

What good looks like

A year-on-year improvement towards the target, with the improvement expected to take into account the changes in other parts of the system, including A levels and earlier educational outcomes and undergraduate diversity.

Measurement

In practice, our measurement is limited to the HESA data on higher education providers which we can compare to the UK employment data and Census data, after taking into account international researchers. We expect research organisations to collect data and we may ask for it.

Current position

For our current position see:

People we are supporting

Long term target

We would expect the population of UK participants to be very similar to the diversity of the UK population, in line with our overall aim. Through qualitative data, the people we are supporting feel welcome, able to fully participate in research and have a sense of belonging. We recognise that what good looks like may look different across disciplines, infrastructure heavy fields or applied versus theoretical domains.

What good looks like

The population of researchers, research technical professionals, PRISM (Professional Research Investment Strategy Managers) staff, and doctoral students that apply for and are supported on EPSRC research and training grants would be very similar to the overall populations in UK universities. This takes into account areas of the portfolio where we have restrictions on nationality or on home student funding.

Measurement

We collect information on project leads, project co-leads, fellows and doctoral students which we can compare to HESA data.

Current position

For our current position see:

Likelihood of being successful in applying for our grant funding

Long term target

People who are eligible for our funding see from the data that they have the same likelihood of success as everyone else eligible. Qualitative data will show trust in the fairness of our assessment processes.

What good looks like

Where award rates are not the same for a particular characteristic, such as ethnicity, the gap is closed year-on-year. Qualitative surveys show increased trust in EPSRC grant awarding processes.

Measurement

Award rates for EPSRC research grants, qualitative surveying every three years.

Current position

For our current position see:

Participation in assessment and peer review

What good looks like

The members participating in our assessment panels and similar groups is very similar to our grant applicants and the population in higher education providers in HESA data.

Measurement

Recorded characteristics of panel members and reviewers compared with HESA data and grant applicant data. Wider UK population data may be more appropriate for peer review considering international aspect.

Current position

For more information on our current position see:

Participation in providing strategic advice

What good looks like

The members of our Strategic Advisory Teams (SAT), Science, Engineering and Technology Board (SETB) and similar groups are very similar to our grant applicants, the population in higher education providers in HESA data. Longer term for the UK component, membership should be similar to the UK population or employment data.

Measurement

Recorded characteristics of SAT and SETB members compared with HESA data and our grant applicant data

Current position

Updated data will be available after the current in progress recruitment round for SATs and SETB.

Annex 2: what do we expect

These expectations can be used as a framework for dialogue with universities and our grant holders to facilitate embedding EDI across organisations. EDI advances only succeed as a collective endeavour. Improvements in EDI will need participation from everyone in the community. Our aim is that everyone in the community feels welcome, that they belong and are able to thrive.

Expectations of research organisations

Research organisations should show leadership to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment where people involved in the research system can thrive, be able to disagree and challenge in a respectful way and progress their careers.

Research organisations should provide an environment that provides space for freedom of speech in line with existing academic principles.

They should continue to support diversity and inclusion, even in financially difficult times.

Research organisations should be aware of the composition of their populations in the research organisation by role, career stage and discipline. They should track how this is changing and identify where action may be needed to improve diversity at the discipline or team level. This should be balanced against national level diversity goals and global research participation, considering different approaches for different roles.

Research organisations should be aware of their level of maturity in EDI understanding and interventions, and be seeking to continue to learn. They should seek out and help identify good and less successful practices and work with sector groups including EDI Hub+ and EDI Caucus. The research organisations should draw on sector resources including the EPSRC expectations and the EPSRC report on university selection processes and neuro-inclusion.

They should also participate in sector initiatives such as Athena Swan, the Race Equality Charter and the Institute of Physics Inclusion Award.

Research organisations should ensure supportive development opportunities are available to all in their community, including:

  • research networking
  • mentoring for all career stages, particularly tailored for early and mid-career to support career development needs
  • leadership training that includes managing people and diversity to build inclusive leaders of the future
  • all leaders supporting workload models that allow for career development as well as supporting people’s return from periods of parental and other long term leave

They should provide inclusive building environments addressing neuroinclusion, accessibility and other EDI good practice when the opportunity for refurbishment or new build arises. Research organisations should ensure the need to balance inclusion, accessibility and safe lab practices.

Research organisations should celebrate and promote good behaviour and tackle issues to stop poor behaviour, this should include all EPSRC grant holders as well as other senior members of the research organisation

Expectations of collaborators and grant partners

We expect collaborators and grant partners to:

  • show leadership in embedding EDI in all the activities within their organisation to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment, where people involved in the research and innovation system can thrive and progress their careers
  • be aware of the composition of their organisation by role, career stage and discipline, track how this is changing and identify where further action may be needed to improve diversity
  • be aware of their level of maturity in EDI understanding and interventions and be seeking to continue to learn, seek out and help identify good and less successful practice, working with sector groups including the EPSRC-supported EDI Hub+ and UKRI-funded EDI Caucus
  • provide financial and other support when needed for career development opportunities, as well as for parental leave and adjustments to support accessibility
  • celebrate and promote good behaviour and tackle issues to stop poor behaviour, including for senior members of the organisation

Expectations of research and innovation team leaders

We expect team leaders to:

  • create a welcoming and inclusive culture in their research teams, being aware of including and supporting all members of the team, providing reasonable adjustments to enable people to fully contribute and feel a sense of belonging
  • be aware of issues of inclusion and diversity in the areas they are working in and sector initiatives to address them
  • keep up to date with organisational EDI work and good EDI practice
  • encourage their team members to support each other, provide a welcoming and inclusive environment, celebrating good practice and behaviours and tackling poor behaviour
  • support team members to network, participate in opportunities across the research landscape and seek out opportunities for career development

Expectations of individuals

We expect individuals to:

  • work in a diverse environment, with colleagues from a range of backgrounds and to not expect to only be working with, taught or supervised by people with the same characteristics as them
  • be part of creating a welcoming and inclusive culture in their team and wider groups and networks
  • find out about good EDI practice and issues they and their colleagues might experience
  • be curious about how others might be feeling and be open to appropriate conversations and actions to help them feel they belong
  • network, establish engagement with other researchers, research teams and collaborators and seek out support locally and more widely to develop their career
  • develop the skills to mentor a colleague and be open to having a mentor to support career development of yourself and others
  • participate in peer review to support the research funding system and obtain valuable skills and experience of how applications are assessed

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