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Upcoming Flexible Fund Call

The last of EDICa’s rounds of Flexible Funding launched this summer. The call focuses on Workstream 3 – the organisation of work and creating more enabling workspaces.

Round 3

Call for proposals on the organisation of work and creating enabling workspaces

Download Call Information Here

The following information can be downloaded by clicking on the button above.

Last updated 3 October 2024

Soft launch: 17-Jun-24
Call for reviewers: 19-Jul-24 – Click here to register interest
Call for expressions of interest: 19 Jul to 30 Sep 2024  – deadline has passed
Call for proposals opens: 05-Aug-24 – click to download application form
Launch webinars, including Q&A:

Info webinar 1 – 21 August 2024 11:00-12:00 BST (Click here to view recording)
Info webinar 2 – 10 September 14:00-15:00 BST (Click here to view recording)
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs – stemming from individual questions to EDICa plus those from the two webinars (Click here to download FAQs)

Deadline for applications: 31-Oct-24
Send applications out to reviewers: w/c 18-Nov-24
Reviews deadline: 13-Dec-24
Panel meeting: w/c 13 January 2025
Successful applicants notified: Late January 2025
All applicants receive feedback: Feb-25
Funding awarded: 03-Mar-25
Comms: 03-Mar-25
Projects completed and final reports submitted: Dec-25

Few people are working together

How to apply

An Expression of Interest must have been submitted by 30 September. 

Download the application

Complete the application, and email it to edicaucus@hw.ac.uk. Ensure the subject line of the email is “EDICa Flexible Fund Application – [Project Title]. Ensure you mention in your email that you have completed the EDI Survey.

EDI Survey linked here: https://go.hw.ac.uk/EDICa/FF/EDISurvey

Call Info in BSL

EDICa’s Deputy Principal Investigator (PI), Prof Jemina Napier, signs in British Sign Language information on Flexible Fund Round 3.

Overview and Process

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Caucus

The Equality Diversity and Inclusion Caucus (EDICa) is funded by UKRI and the British Academy to improve equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the research and innovation (R&I) ecosystem (a part of the economy consisting of supportive institutions – public and private, that work to boost R&I). EDICa is an interdisciplinary and diverse network of researchers and practitioners who will identify, assess, and share existing evidence on the effectiveness of current and emerging EDI practices.

EDICa has been commissioned for three years, and is centred around three thematic workstreams: 

Workstream 1 – The career-life cycle: Identifies the relationships between key career and life events and their mutual impacts, making recommendations for reducing barriers to inclusion across the career. 

Workstream 2 – The research process: Determines how EDI can be embedded in the R&I process and increasing the diversity literacy of researchers and innovators.

Workstream 3 – The organisation of work: Identifies how work can be organised in a variety of R&I workplaces to create enabling workspaces. 

Here are some of the ways EDICa will achieve its objectives: 

  • Identify gaps in existing research and subsequently share recommendations on EDI practice and policy.  
  • Co-design the research process with stakeholders. (Click here for co-design resource links)
  • Co-creating research workplaces in the R&I ecosystem with partners, such as National Museums Scotland. 
  • Build communities of practice to continue the work beyond the three-year grant. 
  • Use a £1 million Flexible Fund to commission research that addresses gaps identified through evidence reviews, primary data collection and co-design workshops.
  • Share findings through a strategic dissemination plan, to reach as broad an audience as possible.

Summary of the Flexible Fund

A total of £1 million has been set aside for the Flexible Fund to enable the EDICa team to commission research which addresses the stubborn inequalities which persist across the R&I ecosystem. These impact-oriented projects will advance knowledge on the lived experience of underrepresented researchers and innovators, and will pilot and evaluate interventions to create meaningful change across the R&I systems in the UK and internationally.
(1- Awards will be made in line with UKRI broader policy, i.e., 80 per cent FEC.)

The Flexible Fund is broken down across three calls, approximately one round per year from 2023 to 2025, with each year focusing on a different one of EDICa’s three thematic streams of work:

  • WS1: The career-life cycle (2023-2024 Call 1)
  • WS2: The research process (early 2024-2025 Call 2)
  • WS3: The organisation of work (late 2024-2025 Call 3)

The total fund of £1M is split across three years. With Flexible Fund rounds 1 and 2 complete, this leaves approximately £300-350K to support projects for WS3. Unlike in the case of Flexible Fund Call 1 and 2, Flexible Fund Call 3 involves strongly encouraging prospective applications for projects lasting around 6-9 months, with such projects ready to start early 2025, and have a maximum budget in the region of £55-60K. (This is not an absolute figure and proposals remain welcome in excess of such amounts, but it must be clear in the proposal that the project is feasible within a 6-9 month timeframe, and represent good value for money.) As such, we expect to fund 5-6 projects from Flexible Fund 3. Applicants are asked to bear this in mind when costing proposals. Irrelevant of size and budget, all projects funded through Flexible Fund Call 3 must be completed by 31 December 2025 (end date of the funding for EDICa).

We have sought at every stage to make this call equitable and accessible, including monitoring and analysing data based on applicant demographics. We have by and large been successful in encouraging a diverse range of applicants, but for the final Flexible Fund Call (details of subject areas can be found on the next page), we would be particularly encouraged to see more applications from the following and under-represented research and innovation groups:

  • Disabled people/people with long-term health conditions that impacts day-to-day living/employment
  • Early career
  • Deaf
  • Ethnic minority backgrounds
  • Gender diversity
  • Sexual minorities
  • Socioeconomic background/status

EDICa warmly welcomes constructive feedback for this call, which can be provided by contacting us on EDICaucus@hw.ac.uk.

Priority area(s) of research for Flexible Fund Call 3

For our third and final round of projects supported through the Flexible Fund, we prioritise work that focuses on the organisation of work and enabling workplaces in the UK’s R&I ecosystem.

Once again, we welcome research that explores the diversity of voices, ideas and experiences in our R&I eco-system. This time, however, we are interested in an under-explored set of issues pertaining to how work can be organised and designed to create enabling workplaces. We would particularly welcome proposals (not exhaustive) that centre on one or multiple aspects of R&I workplaces, including making recommendation related to:

  • Minimising inequalities in EDI and human resource practice.
  • Improving health and safety and well-being practice.
  • Developing constructive and meaningful employment relations policy, etc.

Workplaces we are particularly interested in include, for example:

  • Laboratories and industrial facilities (e.g., static, or on-board ships or rigs, underground).
  • Offices (including exclusively home or hybrid working, open plan, single or shared occupancy).
  • Field sites (temporary or more permanent, geographically local or remote, defined by extreme environments, e.g., excessive noise or lack of sound, high or low temperatures, strong smells, bright or dim lighting).
  • The mobile workplace (working while travelling, or innovations for vehicle-based researchers or innovators), or how new technology (including artificial intelligence) is creating opportunities (and accessibility problems) involving virtual or holographic aspects and forms of working.

However, we also welcome proposals that consider, e.g., the journey to and from work (via personal vehicles or public transport).

Some examples (not exhaustive) of questions that could be explored through proposed projects include:

  • What methods are most impactful in terms of enabling/(re-)organising workplaces for disabled, deaf or neurodivergent staff?
  • How can stakeholders contribute to building change and impact regarding (re-)organisation and enabling of workplaces?
  • How can new technologies be used to make workplaces enabling?
  • How can the labour process be changed to be more enabling and minimise inequalities?
  • What role can the R&I and ecosystem play in making workplaces enabling?
  • How can the organisation of work support ‘family-friendly’ or ‘care-friendly’ policies?

Finally, and given the relatively short-time frame for conducting funded projects, while welcoming all research methodologies, theoretical and disciplinary approaches, we would like to encourage the submission of proposals based on the following, for example:

  • Secondary analysis of primary datasets.
  • Primary analysis of documents, and physical and electronic artefacts, e.g. web pages, social media, etc.
  • Industrial and employment relations.
  • Labour process and industrial sociology.
  • Organisation studies

EDICa will be taking a balanced portfolio approach. This means that applications will be reviewed based on the eligibility and assessment criteria, but we will also be looking for a balance of projects that respond to the issues highlighted above, within the wider theme of the organising of work to create enabling workplaces. A balanced portfolio also means consideration of career stages of applicants, characteristics of applicants, institutional settings and sector. Funding will also be considered in terms of a full consideration of the core EDICa workplan and projects already funded during rounds one and two of the Flexible Fund, i.e., avoiding duplication of extant projects. (Prospective applicants can refer to this website for details of EDICa’s core projects and projects already funded through the Flexible Fund.)

Proposals must adopt a co-design approach and include how key stakeholders/research end users will be engaged in the project. Resources on co-design can be found by clicking here to download a Word document.

What you need to know about Flexible Fund Call 3

  • Submission of an expression of interest is a requirement before a formal proposal can be submitted as this provides the opportunity to offer feedback, to help shape suggestions and to avoid time and energy being invested in proposals which differ significantly from the call. Completing an expression of interest also significantly supports our efforts to recruit reviewers. We will have a ten-week call for expressions of interest, to help EDICa find reviewers, and not delay the timeline following the closing date for submissions. This will be a simple MS Forms questionnaire asking for a 50-word project summary, five key words about the project and a project timeline. Click here for the Expression of Interest Form.
  • For the soft launch, open call for reviewers and call for proposals, the dates below are the first dates that the announcements are made. This information will be shared several times through our platforms and network (see the dissemination section for all channels).
  • We may use these initial outlines to offer feedback (e.g., to suggest collaborations between bidding teams where appropriate) or to establish feasibility (e.g. for a 6-9 month project).
  • We have endeavoured to reflect the timing of school and other public holidays across the UK, as such the call and/or the timings noted below may change slightly.

Further information

Below are 9 topics you can click on to see more detailed information. Remember if you prefer to view this information in a standard PDF, click here.

Submission Process

In submitting a full proposal, applicants must prepare a completed application form (see linked document). This includes:

  • Application information
  • Case for support (max. 1000 words)
  • Details of co-design (max. 500 words)
  • Details of how the project engages with, or is led by, those with lived experience of marginalisation in the R&I space (max. 500 words)
  • Details of how the project engages with, or is led by, Early Career Researchers (ECRs) or Early Career Innovators (ECIs)*
  • Details of how the project will accelerate enabling workplaces across the R&I ecosystem (max. 500 words)
  • EDI plan (max. 500 words)
  • Timeline/Gantt chart (max. 500 words)
  • Research ethical considerations and data management plan (max. 300 words)
  • Risk management table
  • References (optional)
  • A full breakdown of costs
  • A justification of resources (max. one page)
  • Letters of support**

We are also requesting that applicants complete a short EDI survey (linked here). This will not be used to evaluate the proposals but will be used to monitor, evaluate and ensure internal accountability for the inclusive nature of the call and the Caucus.  The information gathered will help us to make sure that future calls are balanced. For example, our analysis of the first round of flexible funding showed a lack of applications from deaf, trans and black researchers and we have sought to promote this second round of flexible funding to those within these communities.

Click here to download the application form for Round 3.

Once you have completed your application form, please email it to edicaucus@hw.ac.uk with the following subject line: EDICa: Flexible Fund Application – project title. Please confirm in your email that you have completed the EDI survey (linked here).

EDICa will confirm receipt of your application by email. If you haven’t received a confirmation email after one working day, please reach out to the team.

Successful applicants will be notified by late January 2024 and the award letter will be signed by February 2025. Please see below an example of the award letter that all successful applicants will be asked to sign.
Click here to download the sample offer letter.

*There is no standard definition of ECR and ECI in the R&I ecosystem. Therefore, to be considered an ECR or ECI, applicants must have a minimum of two of the following five criteria:

  1. Have not previously been a PI or lead on an externally funded project or led a significant programme of work in a commercial or non-academic setting.
  2. Precariously employed, e.g., currently employed via a temporary contract of employment.
  3. Recent returner from a career break, e.g., maternity, caring responsibility, sickness, unpaid sabbatical.
  4. Change of career track or returning after substantial administrative responsibility.
  5. Recent change in career, e.g., industry to academia or academia to industry.

**Letters of support may set out how access or other forms of financial or in-kind support will be made available to the applicants if successful. Where applicants are unable to secure letters of support at the application stage, they will be required before funding is awarded.

Eligibility

We have used the verb ‘must’ for the first two eligibility criteria as EDICa’s goal is to advance the creation of inclusive R&I cultures enabling a diversity of researchers and innovators to access and thrive in careers across the R&I ecosystem in the UK. We want to understand the lived experiences of underrepresented researchers and innovators, creating the hope and the possibility of a R&I career for those traditionally excluded, while imagining a different R&I world which embeds equity. We strongly believe that co-design and proposals engaging with, or led by, those with lived experience will make this goal more realistic and achievable. Please note that there is no need for applicants to disclose any personal or sensitive information to be eligible and where applicants are deemed ineligible, feedback specifying the rationale for this will be provided.  

  • Proposals must adopt a co-design approach and include how key stakeholders/research end users will be engaged in the project. 
  • Proposals must engage with lived experience of underrepresentation in the R&I space. Such engagement reflects the research team and the proposed research methodology. Engagement could include a Principal Investigator (or Project Lead) from an underrepresented group being supported/mentored by an established Co-Investigator (or Project Co-Lead), involvement in the co-design process, a lived experience advisory board, engagement in evaluation and dissemination, etc. 
  • Projects must have full ethical clearance before beginning any data collection – successful applicants will be expected to provide a copy of their ethics approval to the EDICa team.  
  • Resubmissions that were not successful in securing funding from ESRC/UKRI in the past will not be accepted.
Assessment criteria

To download the assessment rubric that reviewers will be using to score the below eligibility criteria, click here  — if you need the Word version for accessibility, click here.

Applications that meet the above minimum  eligibility requirements will then be evaluated based on the following differentiating criteria:  

  1. The degree to which proposals adopt a co-design approach and include how key stakeholders/research end users will be engaged in the project.

     

  2. The degree to which proposals address an evidence gap, specifically one relating to how work is or can be organised in relation to enabling workplaces.

     

  3. The degree to which proposals will create impact e.g., improving working lives for underrepresented people across the R&I ecosystem.

     

  4. Applications engaging with, or led by, ECRs or innovators*.

     

  5. Proposals with interdisciplinary and cross-sector partnerships which reflect the range of R&I workplaces (e.g. businesses, museums, universities), with international partners, will be particularly welcomed.

     

  6. The quality of the EDI plan (The EDI Plan, required as part of every application, must set out how applicants will include EDI considerations in all aspects of how the project operates).

     

  7. Robustness of the methodology.

     

  8. Value for money. 

Please see the rubric that reviewers will be using to score the below eligibility criteria (attached document). EDICa reserves the right to modify the assessment criteria, for example in circumstances where the call is substantially oversubscribed and the process set out above becomes unmanageable. 

*If you are an ECR or ECI and you experience any issues with your institution to lead your project, please do reach out to EDICa and we will support you as best we can.

Reviewing process
  • EDICa will first check all applications to ensure they match the eligibility criteria (Project Manager and Workstream Lead). Those that do not match eligibility will not be considered. 

EDICa will send any applications to funders that we are not sure match the criteria for an institution eligible to receive UKRI funding. 

  • All eligible applications will be reviewed by up to three reviewers, with a minimum of two reviewers*. 
  • EDICa will do an open call for reviewers, at the same time as the call for expressions of interest. EDICa will be sharing this call with the EDICa network, in the newsletter and across all communication channels (see dissemination section). 
  • Reviewers must have no conflict of interest with the proposals being reviewed, according to UKRI managing conflicts of interest in peer review:  
  • EDICa will aim for reviewers to be a mixture of academics and non-academics across career stages.  
  • Reviewers must be experts with subject, methodological or lived experience expertise. 
  • Logistics for peer reviews will be managed by email and confidential sharing of documents and feedback.  
  • All applicants will receive feedback from the reviewers, whether successful or not. 

*This will depend on the number of applications we receive and the topics they address. 

Eligible costs
  • Directly incurred costs
    • Staff costs 
    • Travel, accommodation and subsistence 
    • Consumables, including equipment (under £10,000)
    • Consultancy fees 
  • Directly allocated costs
    • Estate costs
    • Staff costs, where their time is shared between activities 
  • Indirect costs 

Costs associated to Doctoral Researchers must not be charged to the grant. See UKRI information on eligible costs for a full breakdown: Principles of full economic costing (fEC) – UKRI 

An additional separate £50K has been allocated for project teams requiring accessibility support. Successful projects can apply for this additional support, for example, making videos to disseminate findings with BSL and closed captions. This will be a one-page form.

Payment of funds

Awards will be managed as standard by institutions, with payment of funds made on a quarterly basis.

Additional information
  • Funding for the flexible fund will be made at 80 per cent fEC. The Research Organisation in receipt of this devolved funding must make up the remaining 20 per cent. Where non-academic or international organisations are the recipients of a flexible commissioning fund grant, they are eligible for funding at 100 per cent full economic cost. However, the combined costs for applicants eligible for 100 per cent full economic cost should not exceed 30 per cent of the full economic cost of the grant. UKRI funding rules allow for those bidding to undertake projects to cost for their time. 
  • The EDICa team will support potential applicants with excellent ideas, but who may be struggling to access or use specific approaches, before submission of their application (e.g., offer co-design resources or facilitate access to stakeholders and collaborators). Please RSVP to our Flexible Fund Launch event, as there will be a section specifically speaking to co-design.  
  • All successful applicants will be asked to submit a dissemination plan for their findings. The EDICa engagement team will work with successful applicants to disseminate findings across their network. 
  • On being awarded funding, all successful organisations will be required to sign an offer letter, including terms and conditions (link to be inserted).
Outputs
  • All successful projects will be required to produce an accessible final report at the end of their project, of no more than 10,000 words. This should include a summary of the project, the methodology used to undertake the project, research findings, recommendations, and a full cost report.  
  • Each project will be required to create at least one impactful, accessible output e.g., a blog article, a reflective piece, an exhibition, etc.  
  • All successful applicants will be required to work with the EDICa engagement team to disseminate findings across their network. 
  • Successful applicants will be required to meet with the EDICa team each quarter to report on project updates.
Dissemination process (for the call)

We will be reaching out to our network, and asking that they share the call for applications, and call for reviewers within their organisations and throughout their own networks. The funding call page on our website will be linked in all communications. Our dissemination list is as follows: 

  • EDICa network (those who have signed up to receive information from us) 
  • EDICa Advisory Board 
  • Funders 
  • Partners (included within the proposals) 
  • Caucus collaborations (mentioned in the Year 1 proposal) 
  • Individuals and organisations who have reached out to EDICa 
  • Individuals and organisations EDICa have identified as potential network members  
  • Social media platforms: Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram

Call for Reviewers

EDICa is looking for reviewers for the Flexible Fund. We welcome academics at all career stages, non-academics, researchers & innovators to review projects focusing the research process (refer to the text describing the Flexible Fund Round 3 above).

Reviewers must have no conflict of interest with the proposals being reviewed, according to UKRI managing conflicts of interest in peer review: https://www.ukri.org/councils/nerc/guidance-for-applicants/what-happens-after-you-submit-your-proposal/managing-conflicts-of-interest-in-peer-review/

If you believe you have the expertise and/or experience to be a reviewer in this call, please complete this expression of interest linked here.

If you have any queries, you can always reach us by emailing edicaucus@hw.ac.uk.

EDICa will offer a 1-hour guidance session for anyone who has the expertise and/or experience to act as a reviewer for this funding call, but may not have had a lot of experience as a reviewer. You’re welcome to join this session even if you are an experienced reviewer.

Check out EDICa’s resources

 

EDICa hosts a regular blog and seminars, as well as collecting a library of resources of equality, diversity & inclusion practices in research & innovation.

A woman with short brown hair and safety glasses sits in a large electric wheelchair at a workbench which is adjustable down to her level. She holds a pipette in a glass beaker as she looks at five students of different races wearing white labcoats and safety goggles.

Disability Access Workshop Recording

Date: 15th March 2024

EDICa hosted Dr Katherine Deane and Dan Burrill from U of East Anglia to speak about making universities more accessible. Recording and slides here.

Click here for more resources
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Dr Anjali Mazumder

AI and Justice and Human Rights Theme Lead

The Turing Institute

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Anjali Mazumder is the Theme Lead on AI and Justice & Human Rights. Her work focuses on empowering government and non-profit organisations by co-designing and developing responsible and inclusive data and AI methods, tools and frameworks for safeguarding people from harm – particularly those most vulnerable, building resilient institutions and systems, and accelerating the opportunity for inclusive, fair and just services, systems, economies, and communities. She is passionate about fostering multi-disciplinary collaborations and multi-sector partnerships to co-create pathways for innovation that improves services, policy, and actions to safeguard human rights and address humanitarian challenges. Her research interests are in developing integrated Bayesian decision support systems to manage uncertainty with complex data structures, value of evidence, causal reasoning in the wild; expert judgement; detecting bias and algorithmic fairness; socio-technical solutions to harnessing multiple disparate sources of data whilst enabling responsible and inclusive data and AI principles and practices; communicating uncertainty and risk; and safeguarding rights and the Rule of Law.

She has over 15 years’ experience tackling fundamental statistical problems of societal importance – human rights, justice, security, the Law, education, public health & safety – working at the interface of research, policy and practice in the UK, the US, and Canada, fostering multi-disciplinary and cross-sector collaborations. She was appointed to Canada’s National DNA Databank Advisory Committee (2012-2018) and currently serves on the UK Forensic Science Regulator’s fingerprint interpretation subgroup, and the senior management board of the UK’s Policy and Evidence Centre for Modern Slavery and Human Rights. She has also served the Royal Statistical Society in a variety of ways, most recently appointed to the Statistics & Law Section and the Data Science Section committees. She holds a doctorate in Statistics from the University of Oxford and two masters’ degrees in Measurement and Evaluation, and Statistics from the University of Toronto.

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Polly Williams

Head of Diversity & Inclusion
at The Law Society

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Polly Williams is Head of Diversity & Inclusion at The Law Society. She’s also a Trustee at the MS Society (Multiple Sclerosis).
Prior to joining The Law Society, Polly was Head of D&I at the Royal Academy of Engineering, and Head of Scientific Programmes at The Royal Society.

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Prof Abigail Powell

Professor of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Lincoln

Dir of Eleanor Glanville Institute

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Abigail is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Lincoln (UK), where she is Director of Research in the Eleanor Glanville Institute, a hybrid institute focused on equality, diversity and inclusion.

Abigail is an expert in the gender division of labour (in the home and workplace), with a particular focus on gender in male dominated occupations, such as construction and engineering; youth studies; financial wellbeing; and complex evaluation and impact measurement.

Abigail has over 15 years’ research experience working at the intersection of academia and industry. Abigail has worked with industry, government and NGOs, including research and evaluations for NSW Health, NSW Commission for Children and Young People, beyondblue, headspace, Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Diversity Council Australia, NAB, Macquarie Group Foundation and the Australian Human Rights Commission.

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Dr Felix Oppong

Research Scientist – Rheologist
at Unilever

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Dr Felix Oppong earned his PhD from Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, studying the microstructure and rheology of complex (non-Newtonian) fluids.

Felix has spent the last 15 years in Unilever’s research & development department, studying rheology (study of the flow of matter, primarily in a liquid or gas state – e.g. polymers, bodily fluids, ketchup). 

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Dr Jackie Maybin

Reader and Consultant Gynaecologist, Centre for Reproductive Health at
University of Edinburgh & NHS Lothian

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In her clinical role, Dr Jackie Maybin runs a specialist menstrual disorders service offering medical and surgical treatments. Her research team aims to develop better preventative and therapeutic strategies for problematic menstrual bleeding, a common and debilitating symptom. Currently, she holds a Wellcome Clinical Career Development Fellowship to investigate the role of hypoxia in menstrual physiology and pathology. She is also examining the potential link between COVID and menstrual disturbance. She sits on the Editorial Board of Reproduction, Journal for Endometriosis and Uterine Disorders and Physiological Reviews. She is president of the RCOG Blair Bell Society, a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy of Scotland and Chair the National Menstrual Clinical Network for the Scottish Government.

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Dr Omar Khan

CEO TASO

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Dr Omar Khan has a DPhil from University of Oxford in Political Theory. 

Omar is Chief Executive Officer of TASO – Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education. Omar  has led TASO’s transition into an independent charity, developing its team and strategy to widen participation in higher education and eliminate equality gaps between students. His research and professional background has focused on equality and social mobility, particularly in education and the labour market, and he regularly speaks on these topics in the UK and globally.

Omar holds several board advisory positions, including chair of the board of trustees of Trust for London, trustee of the Political Studies Association and the Barrow Cadbury Trust. Omar has previously been a board or advisory group member at the University of East London, the Financial Inclusion Commission, the Department for Work and Pensions, the 2021 REF and 2014 REF assessments, and a 2012 Clore Social Leadership Fellow.

Omar joined TASO from race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust, where he had been Director since 2014.

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Victoria Jones

Senior Policy Officer at Trades Union Conference (TUC)

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Victoria Jones graduated from Keele University in 2013 with an LLB in Law with Politics. Since then she has worked at a number of unions, including 7 years at FDA as National Officer. 

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Prof Tanvir Hussain

IGNITE Network+ Co-Director

Professor of Coatings and Surface Engineering (University of Nottingham)

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Prof Tanvir Hussain received a PhD in Materials Engineering from the University of Nottingham where is now a professor, followed by a Masters in Manufacturing Engineering. In his doctoral research, he investigated the high strain-rate deformation of titanium alloys using a novel cold gas dynamic spraying (a near net shape/additive manufacturing) technique. The process is now established as a high deposition rate additive manufacturing technique. His contribution to the scientific community was to propose a novel bonding mechanisms in the solid-state particle deformation.

Prof Hussain is an EPSRC Research Fellow (2021-2026) and is the Co-Director of IGNITE Network+, a similar network to the EDI Caucus but specific to the energy sector.

 

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Yvonne Greeves

Director of Women in Business for NatWest Group

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As Director of Women in Business for NatWest Group, Yvonne is responsible for designing and implementing the Women in Business Strategy working with key stakeholders both internally and externally across the UK. With over 600 WIB specialists she is also responsible for supporting this network to collaborate, build relationships and influence senior stakeholders, strategic partners and external organisations across the UK to drive the WIB proposition for NatWest Group. Yvonne has an integral role with the Interventions for the Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship which seeks to address the £250 billion economic opportunity to the UK Economy if women set up and scaled in business at the same rate as men. Yvonne is an experienced Non-Executive Director and holds a number of external Board positions, she is a trustee of Firstport, an organisation that supports Social Enterprises; Non-Executive Director, of the Growth Company Business Finance, an organisation that provides alternative business finance options for growing businesses. She is also a member of two Scottish Government Boards focusing on female equality. Yvonne actively mentors and provides training to Women in Business across the country and is keen to inspire more women to set up and scale their business.

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Heather Fisken

in her personal capacity

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Heather Fisken sits on our Advisory Board in her own personal capacity, but it was her skills and experience with inclusive accessible design, the Disability Rights Commission, and people-led policy and practice that we sought. Heather has worked at Inclusion Scotland for 15 years and is currently the Chief Executive. Using the social model of disability, they “work to achieve positive changes to policy and practice, so that disabled people are fully included throughout all Scottish society as equal citizens.”

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Dr Jenny Douglas

Senior Lecturer in Health Promotion
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education & Language Studies

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Dr Jenny Douglas is passionate about the health and wellbeing of black women as evidenced through her research and public engagement. She has a PhD in Women’s Studies and completed her doctoral thesis on cigarette smoking and identity among African-Caribbean young women in contemporary British society. This research brought together two divergent research traditions: medical public health and health promotion approaches with sociological approaches to researching cigarette smoking. This interdisciplinary research approach brings together sociology, public health and women’s studies. Her commitment to comparative approaches finds expression not only in working across disciplinary and national boundaries, but also across theoretical and methodological traditions. Her research is both varied and wide ranging spanning 30 years on issues of race, health, gender and ethnicity. The key theme unifying her research and activism is intersectionality – exploring how ‘race’, class and gender affect particular aspects of African – Caribbean women’s health.

Jenny Douglas established and chairs the Black Women’s Health and Wellbeing Research Network. (www.open.ac.uk/black-womens-health-and-wellbeing) and her ambition is to establish a research institute on the health and wellbeing of black women. She is a contributing author to ‘Inside the Ivory Tower’.

Jenny Douglas is a Senior Lecturer in Health Promotion in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies at the Open University. She has a PhD in Women’s Studies from the University of York, an MA in Sociological Research in Health Care from the University of Warwick, an MSc in Environmental Pollution Control from the University of Leeds and a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology and Virology from the University of Warwick. She is module lead of the K311 – ‘Promoting Public Health’, is an honorary member of the Faculty of Public Health and is a director of the UK Public Health Register.

Jenny is a Research Affiliate of the Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada and a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Psychology at The George Washington University, Washington D.C., USA.

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Dr Cornelius Chikwama

Audit Director – Performance Audit and Best Value Group
Audit Scotland

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Economist with a extensive experience Public Sector Performance Audit, Public Policy, Economic Strategy, Economics Research, Policy Analysis and Organisational Performance Management.

Before moving to Audit Scotland, Dr Chikwama spent three years as Deputy Director of Economic Strategy in the Scottish Government. Before that he spent four years as Senior Economist and Head of Marine Analytical Unit at Marine Scotland Science and four years at the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).

Dr Chikwama is an honorary professor at Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh Business School, contributing to the teaching of Advanced Economic Policy module.

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Dawn Bonfield MBE

Founder and Director of Towards Vision, Visiting Professor

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Dawn Bonfield MBE FREng is Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at King’s College London working with young people on addressing the Sustainable Development Goals as entrepreneurs. She has been Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor of Inclusive Engineering at Aston University since 2017, and is the Founder & Director of Towards Vision, a not-for-profit which works towards a vision of diversity and inclusion in engineering. She is Past President and former Chief Executive of the Women’s Engineering Society (WES). Dawn is Deputy Chair of the Women in Engineering Committee of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations working on the application of engineering and technology to address gender inequality globally. Dawn has recently been a member of the Engineering Design T level panel, and serves on a number of educational committees promoting engineering and engineering education. She is founder of the social enterprise ‘Magnificent Women’ which celebrates the history of women in engineering, and she was the founder of International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) which takes place on 23 June annually.
A materials engineer by profession – having studied Materials Science at Bath University – Dawn has worked at AERE Harwell, Citroen Research Centre (Paris), British Aerospace (Bristol), MBDA (Stevenage), and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (London).
Dawn received an MBE in 2016 for ‘Services to the promotion of diversity in engineering’.

Dawn is also a member of Research England’s UK research partnership investment fund, and Advisory Board
Member of UKRI EPSRC EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) Strategic Advisory Network (SAN).

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Dr Manuella Blackburn

Reader in Electronic Music and Sound Design at Keel University

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Dr Manuella Blackburn is an internationally recognised and multi award-winning composer of sound-based music and digital arts. She has been working with sound for over 15 years and has created projects for fixed media, instruments and electronics, installations, and music for film and audio-visuals. Her music is published on the Montreal-based label, Emprientes DIGITALes and she has received over 250 performances and exhibitions world-wide.

Click on the music icon to listen to some of Manuella’s tracks.

Dr Blackburn has held academic posts at Liverpool Hope University, The Open University and Keele University.

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Rebecca Kennedy

EDICa Intern 13 November 2023 to 12 January 2024 part time

Heriot-Watt University

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Rebecca Kennedy applied for EDICa’s paid internship aimed at giving the opportunity to people from under-represented backgrounds a chance to experience a research career.

Rebecca spent two months at half time working with the team, primarily supporting our research into UKRI PhD studentship terms and conditions. 

Previously, Rebecca had been an EDI Intern at Durham University.

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Lizzie Hodkinson

EDICa Manager 

Heriot-Watt University

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Lizzie Hodkinson returned to the UK following three years living and working in British Columbia where she worked as a Project Coordinator at the University of British Columbia.

Lizzie earned an MA in French and Russian from the University of Glasgow in 2013, and has seven years’ experience in international project management and events.

Lizzie, also a qualified yoga teacher, went on maternity leave in October 2023, and we expect her return in October 2024.

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Fenella Watson

EDICa Senior Project Support Officer

Heriot-Watt University

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Fenella Watson has an MSc in Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh and trained as a Chartered Management Accountant, working for ten years on the beleaguered Edinburgh Tram Project. She joined the newly formed Lyell Centre for Earth and Marine Science and Technology in 2017. This partnership between the British Geological Survey and Heriot-Watt University is an interdisciplinary centre of excellence. Fenella supported the administration and recruitment of the Lyell Centre part time, and worked in recruitment part time, primarily hiring postdocs. She also co-wrote the Athena SWAN Bronze application for the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society at HWU, which was awarded in 2021.

Fenella has long had a passion for equality, diversity and inclusion, completing a Women’s Studies minor at undergraduate college, volunteering as an EDI Champion in Siemens, and working in the Lyell Centre to establish good EDI practices.

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Alastair Grant

Finance Manager

Heriot-Watt University

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Alastair Grant is a Qualified Accountant with extensive experience in both commercial and education sectors. Proven commercial acumen, combined with good people management, team building, development and mentoring skills, confident in dealings with a broad range of staff, colleagues and business associates, up to and including board level. 

From 2002-2013, Alastair served as Finance Controller of one of the schools at Heriot-Watt University. He’s also had experience at the University of Dundee, the Edinburgh University Students Association, and contracts in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

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Beth Wedgwood

Research Assistant

Heriot-Watt University

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Beth Wedgwood graduated with BA in Sociology from Newcastle University, graduating in June 2022. 

She applied to EDICa’s Internship in the summer of 2023, working full time for one month from October to November. EDICa’s internship was aimed at people underrepresented in academia who would not normally have considered a research career.

When EDICa won additional funding to undertake additional work, Beth was hired as a Research Assistant to support the team. 

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Dr Stefanie Schneider

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Northumbria University

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Stefanie Schneider is a postdoctoral research associate for half her time on the EDICa project. 

The other half of her time is spent at Northumbria University as a lecturer in International Business.

Her research interests include mediation in intercultural workplaces as well as the maintenance, identification and overcoming of bias at work.

She was previously a Lecturer in Intercultural Communication in the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics at the Open University. She was awarded a PhD in Management and Business and Applied Linguistics by Newcastle University in 2020, and has since studied the role of intercultural (communicative) competence in professional settings. She was a Research Associate for the Erasmus + funded project “Critical Skills for Life and Work: Developing the Professional Intercultural Communicative Competence of Highly-Skilled Refugees’ and currently creates short courses on intercultural competences for a range of workplace settings for the Open Centre for Languages and Cultures.

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Dr Jos Collins

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Heriot-Watt University

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Jos Collins’ PhD thesis – Living Tradition and Cultural Revival: Scottish Folk Drama in the 21st Century –  results from a partnership between the Intercultural Research Centre (Heriot-Watt University), Celtic and Scottish Studies (University of Edinburgh) and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland (TRACS, Scottish Storytelling Centre). It examines the reasons behind the resurgence of interest in this old art form and folk custom and its cultural implications. It seeks to investigate the motivations for participants and what these can tell us about modern attitudes to concepts like tradition and authenticity. The main aim of the project is to explore the place of revived folk drama in contemporary Scottish society through the following objectives: to produce a survey of Scottish folk drama activities today; to examine community-led performances and related activities ethnographically; to evaluate the motivations and aspirations of participants and organisers and to assess their contribution to aspects of local identity, ideas of tradition, and community dynamics; to investigate how folk drama as a living practice contributes to developing conceptualisations of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Scotland; and to contribute to the newly emerging ‘Creative Ethnology’ movement led by the three institutions involved.

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Dr Siddhartha Saxena

Postdoctoral Research Associate

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Siddhartha Saxena earned his PhD in 2020 focusing on the Study of Gender-Role Congruity in Family Businesses. Prior to joining EDICa, he spent six years as the Program Chair for the Bachelor of Business Administration Program and an Assistant Professor at Ahmedabad University in India. There he contributed to teaching, research and administrative functions, specialising in designing and delivering courses in the domains of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management. His industry expertise lies in Management Development Programs, PDWs, training and interventions, analyzing and executing 360-degree feedbacks, CPI analysis and CVF framework implementation.

He was honored as a Fetzer MSR Scholar in 2022 and Erasmus+ Scholar in 2023. He has also completed the Global Faculty Development Program at the Wharton School.

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Dr Cat Morgan

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Heriot-Watt University

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Cat Morgan’s research and teaching interests are at the intersection of gender, digital technologies and political science. She is particularly interested in how digital technologies are used by those who are marginalised to raise awareness, speak out and create policy changes.

She holds a PhD and MSc in Web Science and Politics from the University of Southampton, and a MA in Gender, Sexuality and Culture from Birkbeck College.

Her recent projects have included:

  • Enabling Neurodiverse Science Careers (NERC funded) at Heriot-Watt University
  • Who is Watching Westminster? (Leverhulme Trust funded) at Birkbeck College
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Chiara Cocco

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Heriot-Watt University

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Chiara holds an MSc in Cultural Resource Management from Heriot-Watt University and she has recently submitted her PhD thesis on performance and experience in the Festival of Sant’Efisio in Sardinia, her home country. 

Chiara has been engaging with EDI issues for over a decade, as she worked in schools supporting disabled and d/Deaf students. She holds 3rd level certificates both in Italian Sign Language (LIS) and British Sign Language (BSL). 

Her role in the caucus is to explore the relationships between life events and career, by focusing on menstrual health and (peri)menopause in the workplace. Her main concern is to address barriers to inclusion, development, and progression for those who experience problematic menstruation and (peri)menopause in research and innovation careers. Her research interests and expertise also lie in ethnographic methods, particularly autoethnography.  Her own experience as a menstruating researcher with caring responsibilities informs her current work with EDICa and drives her commitment to improve inclusion and enable fulfilling and accessible careers for all.

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Prof Diane Gyi

Professor of Applied Ergonomics and Design
Loughborough University

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Professor Diane Gyi’s healthcare background and knowledge of theory and practice has enabled her to champion design ergonomics, to achieve comfortable, effective and healthy design solutions. Technological advances means that people are no longer tied to their desks, chairs, vehicles and workstations (with obvious health benefits) – this provides an opportunity to innovate and ensure that design reflects complex systems and the changing ways people live and work.

Applications of her research have covered topics as diverse as autonomous vehicle interiors, automotive seating innovations, healthy ageing at work, the older driver experience, and inclusive/accessible transport design.

She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF) and a Member of CIEHF Professional Affairs Board.

She is also a reviewer for several international journals (e.g. Ergonomics, Design Journal) and has been invited to serve on advisory/scientific committees for international conferences and continues to review research grants for research bodies including the British Council and the Swedish Knowledge Foundation.

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Prof Jason Arday

Professor of Sociology of Education 

University of Cambridge

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Professor Arday is the 2002 Professorial Chair in the Sociology of Education at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education. Previously, Jason was Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Glasgow in the School of Education, College of Social Sciences.

Professor Arday has also held the position of Associate Professor in Sociology at Durham University in the Department of Sociology and Deputy Executive Dean for People and Culture in the Faculty of Social Science and Health. He is a Visiting Professor at The Ohio State University in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, University of Glasgow in the School of Education and an Honorary Professor at Durham University in the Department of Sociology.

He is a Trustee of the Runnymede Trust, the UK’s leading Race Equality Thinktank and the British Sociological Association (BSA). Jason sits on the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) National Advisory Panel, the NHS Race and Health Observatory Academic Reference Group and the ITV Cultural Advisory Council.

Professor Arday’s research focuses on the areas of race and higher education, intersectionality and education, mental health and education, neurodiversity and cultural studies.

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Assoc Prof Mata Ayoub

School Director of Learning & Teaching for the School of Creative and Cultural Studies
Kingston University London

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Mata Ayoub completed her BA (Hons) in Media and Cultural Studies with Film, and then went on to study an MA in Education where she focused on Autism Spectrum Difference. She worked at WAC Performing Arts School for many years with young people with special needs, where she used Filmmaking to offer an alternative approach to learning and teaching. 

Mata is chair of the Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME)/People of Colour (PoC) Staff Network at Kingston University London, one of the most influence BAME/POC networks of any university. 

Her research interests include:

  • How to manage courageous conversations about race and characteristics in relation to the Equality Act 2010
  • Creating a KU Journal ‘Diversity in the Academy’.
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder.
  • Filmmaking approach as an alternative method for learning and teaching.
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Prof Jemina Napier

Assistant Professor in Human Resource Management
Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University

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Nima is an Assistant Professor in HRM and a member of HRM and Law Group at Edinburgh Business School. Nima’s primary research interests are in Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour. In her research, she focuses on workplace commitment, organisational socialisation, perceptions of fit, psychological contract, and professional services firms. She is interested in studying different contemporary work contexts such as cross-boundary and temporary work settings, which is particularly relevant to the Future of Work. She also keens to engage in research on different topics such as identity, engagement, career, knowledge management, HRM practices, and qualitative research methods.

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Dr Marion Hersh

Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering

University of Glasgow

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Marion Hersh has an interdisciplinary background with a first degree in mathematics from the University of Cambridge and a control engineering PhD from UMIST. Their main area of work is assistive technology, with related work in design for all and employment for disabled people.

Particular projects include travel technology for blind people, communication devices for deafblind people, accessibility and usability of educational games, learning support technology for students with mathematics learning difficulties and subtitles showing emotional and contextual features. They also work on technology and ethics and is convenor of the International Federation of Automatic Control Working Group on Ethics.

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Dr Will Stronge

Workstream 3 Deputy Lead

Co-Founder and Director of the Autonomy Institute

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Will is Autonomy’s Director. He holds a PhD in Politics and Philosophy from the University of Brighton and with Helen Hester is currently writing Post-work (Bloomsbury 2024).

The Autonomy Institute is an independent, progressive research organisation that creates data-driven tools and research to strengthen democracy and build a fairer economy.

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Prof Nilay Shah

Professor of Process Systems Engineering,
Head of Department of Chemical Engineering
Imperial College London

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Nilay Shah’s research interests include the application of process modelling and mathematical/systems engineering techniques to analyse and optimise complex process and energy systems and their associated supply chains, with a particular interest in clean energy, biorenewables and bioprocessing, including synthetic biology.

He also works on the application of model-based methods for plant safety assessment and risk analysis. He has published widely in these areas and is particularly interested in the transfer of technology from academia to industry. He has provided consultancy services on systems optimisation to a large number of process industry companies.

Nilay Shah is the Director of the Centre for Process Systems Engineering (CPSE) and co-director of the Industrial Biotechnolgy Hub at Imperial.

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Prof Raffaella Ocone

Professor of Chemical Engineering
Heriot-Watt University

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Raffaella Ocone OBE FRSE FREng is Professor of Chemical Engineering at Heriot-Watt University and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. In 2006 she was awarded the title Cavaliere of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and in the 2019 New Year Honours she was appointed OBE.
She has been Professor of Chemical Engineering at Heriot-Watt University since 1999, and she was the first female professor of chemical engineering in Scotland. In 2003 she became a Chartered Engineer with the Engineering Council. She is also a Chartered Scientist with the Science Council.

Her research is in the field of modelling of complex reactive systems, for which she has been internationally recognised, including election as Fellow to a number of Royal Societies. Her work has application to the design and operation of industrial systems involving material flow. In 2013 Ocone was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, which she described as “the greatest accolade for an engineer”. She is an authority on complex reactive systems, and her research has been applied to the development of carbon capture and storage technologies. She co-authored at Royal Academy of Engineering report, funded by the UK government, on the biofuels industry.


She has an interest in ethics and engineering, and chaired the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Teaching Ethics group.

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Dr Clayton Magill

EDICa Neurodiversity Champion

Assoc. Professor in Biogeochemistry at the Lyell Centre for Earth & Marine Science & Technology, Heriot-Watt University

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Clay Magill’s joined the Lyell Centre for Earth & Marine Science & Technology at Heriot-Watt University in 2016.

Clay completed his MPhil at University of Cambridge and two PhDs at The Pennsylvania State University, in Geosciences and Biogeochemistry.

His research characterizes molecular and isotopic compositions of sedimentary organic matter as a tool for reconstructing ancient environmental conditions.  His current projects utilize carbon and deuterium signatures of biomarkers – the molecular remains of algae and plants – to trace hydroclimate and ecosystem fragmentation in eastern Africa during major junctures in human evolution, ca. 6-to-1 million years ago.  

Clay has a passion for EDI and was a co-investigator on a predecessor project of EDICa – EnDISC (Enabling NeuroDiverse Inclusive Science Careers), funded by NERC and led by Prof Kate Sang.

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Dr James Richards

EDICa Workstream 3 Lead

Professor in Human Resource Management, Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University

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James Richards is a long-term Academic Member of the CIPD, a Fellow of the HE Academy, and member of BAM, BSA and BUIRA.

He recently became Co-Director of Engagement within the School of Social Sciences at Heriot-Watt University – key aspects of this role include building a culture of engagement across the School, and preparing the School for the impact element of REF2029.

His teaching role involves co-ordination of courses on Employment Relations, and Sustainable Human Resource Management.

He previously served (2012-2022) as Research Ethics Officer in the School of Social Sciences, Chairing the University’s Research Ethics Committee.

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Prof Robert MacIntosh

EDICa Workstream 2 Lead

Pro Vice-Chancellor for Business and Law, Northumbria University

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Professor Robert MacIntosh trained as an engineer and is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Academy of Social Sciences and the British Academy of Management. He has published over 100 outputs including books on strategy, organisational change and research impact. His background reflects a long-standing interest in multidisciplinary research that makes a difference in the world. He is an advocate of the transformative power of universities both in their learning and teaching and in their research and knowledge exchange.

He has held leadership roles in business schools at Strathclyde, Glasgow and Heriot-Watt and is currently Pro Vice-Chancellor for Business and Law at Northumbria University. He is also Chair of the Chartered Association of Business Schools and sits on the Council of the British Academy of Management.

He has extensive experience working with, facilitating and researching strategy in a range of publicly traded firms, large public organisations and third sector organisations and has supervised a number of senior leaders from the US, Canada, Europe and the UK to doctoral completion.

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Prof Kate Sang

EDICa Principal Investigator & Workstream 1 Lead

Professor of Gender & Employment Studies, Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University

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Kate Sang is a Professor of Gender and Employment Studies, specialising in research which aims to improve marginalized people’s careers, with a particular interest in women and disabled people’s careers. Kate’s research is underpinned by an intersectional approach, recognising that our experiences of employment are informed by intersecting structural and cultural inequalities. Further, Kate has expertise in participatory action research, working with research end-users to create workplace interventions which reflect the needs and experiences of organizational stakeholders, including employees, trade unions, employers and policy makers.

More recently, Kate’s research has explored gynaecological health at work, disability inclusive science careers and migrants’ experiences of employment. Kate is interested in the role of technology, including virtual reality, in fostering more inclusive workplaces. Kate is also pursuing research which works to embed the needs of women and disabled people in environmental measures.

From the 1st August 2020, Kate is the director for the Centre for Research on Employment, Work and the Professions – an interdisciplinary research centre