EDI Caucus
@edicaucus.bsky.social
The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Caucus. Multidisciplinary project, funded by UKRI and British Academy, to create inclusive careers across the research and innovation systems in the UK. edicaucus.ac.uk
EDICa's latest bimonthly newsletter is out. PDF here: go.hw.ac.uk/EDICa/Newsle... Sway version here: go.hw.ac.uk/EDICa/Newsle... In this edition we say goodbye to the five postdocs who have worked on EDICa. Project manager and yours truly comms person have contracts to Christmas. Also announcing:🧵
EDICa advisory board member Jackie Maybin at U of Edinburgh is one of several researchers featured in this article on the lack of and dire need for more research on menstrual health. www.bbc.com/future/artic...
'It's not just an inconvenience': We've underestimated the health impacts of heavy periods
As women have fewer children and more periods, heavy menstrual bleeding is becoming more of a health burden.
bbc.com
Is all publicity good publicity? One of EDICa's Flexible Fund projects held focus groups and interviews and concluded that "no", sometimes it causes big problems for those research LGTBQ+ topics. There're 4 videos & a lovely toolkit for free download. edicaucus.ac.uk/all-visibili...
All visibility good visibility? - EDICa
Date: 22nd June 2026 - EDICa Flexible Fund toolkit on how to support researchers working in LGBTQ+ research dealing with public harassment.
edicaucus.ac.uk
📣 REGISTRATION IS OPEN 📣 Our 7th annual #BlackInNeuroWeek is coming soon 🧠 From July 27th to August 2nd, we have an ✨AMAZING✨ week of events planned for you all, free and open to the public 🤗 Don’t miss out! Register for #BINW26 here ⤵️ events.zoom.us/ev/AgaErvpe_... #BlackInSTEM #Neuroskyence 🧪
New resources are being added to our library. We collect resources on a wide spectrum under equality, diversity & inclusion in the research & innovation sector - and not just from our own research. This one is from Innovation & Research Caucus. edicaucus.ac.uk/academic-lon...
edicaucus.ac.uk
Are you a South Asian (Bangladeshi, Indian, or Pakistani) woman academic working in a UK university? A researcher supervised by EDICa's James Richards is seeking to do 45-60 min confidential interviews on the lived experience of 1st & 2nd gen S. Asian women academics. Contact: ma4057@hw.ac.uk
If you're in the Scottish central belt, come join us on 29 July on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh for a practical workshop on how to build inclusive workplaces, supporting disabled and neurodivergent employees. 29 July 10:30-13:00. Refreshments provided. Register: bit.ly/4xIPh0Y #HR #Inclusion #EDI
New IGNITE Network+ digest now available! Highlights include: Doctoral Applications Webinar, Final Event 2027, disability & net zero event insights, the @rsc.org Beyond Access report & @edicaucus.bsky.social peer review guidance. ➡️ tinyurl.com/3mpnuftz #EDI #DiversityInEnergy #ResearchCulture
Re Research Professional News closes "‘Democracy dies in darkness’ is perhaps a grandiose response... but nevertheless true. Perhaps better to say that every day becomes a good day to bury bad news if no-one is digging for it, wiping off the dirt, and shouting: “look at this bad news, everyone!..."
Kirsty Grainger @kirstygrainger.bsky.social · last mo.Nice write up by Adam. I admit to being the former UKRI employee quoted BUT the really interesting thing that happened yesterday was the amount of chat this created with my friends who are current employees (who can't say stuff publicly due to public sector rules), they too think this is AWFUL news.
Time and again I think that THIS is the stat universities should shout, shout & shout again about. New education export data again show HE responsible for nearly three-quarters of a £37bn UK revenue source. Fund our universities! Source: explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statist...
UKRI has put its money where its mouth is on improving the lot of postgrad research students, hiking up the stipend multiple times in recent years But inevitably this has put pressure on how many new PhDs it can fund each year - there has been a 22% drop over a decade, even as funding has risen 🧵
Been needing to know this sign recently as we have been working with deaf colleagues and research participants. Good one to have in your vocabulary, like you would have key phrases before visiting a foreign country. (Danke, kon'nichiwa, por favor) #BSL #EDI #DEI youtu.be/Xj6ZOtmooao?...
July's sign of the month - How are you?
YouTube video by Heriot-Watt University
youtu.be
You know the "protected characteristics", right? Gender, race, religion, etc.? What about "unprotected characteristics"? In the research world, this includes type of institution, contract type and length. Read EDICa's Prof MacIntosh's blog out today. 🧵 www.hepi.ac.uk/2026/07/02/i...
Inclusivity and peer-review: the role of unprotected characteristics - HEPI
This blog was kindly authored by Robert MacIntosh, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of the West of Scotland Research funders want their investment to support the best researchers pur...
hepi.ac.uk
EDI in the Research Process. We're talking peer review, EDI training, flexible funds.... Today's the day, not too late to register and join us at 3pm. More than 300 sign-ups. #BSL will be provided. Recording will be available later this week. zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: EDI in the Research Process. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
Join the EDI Caucus - funded by UKRI and the British Academy - for our launch of reports on the research process. The Good Practice Guide for Research Funding Panels A Guide to EDI Training in the Re...
zoom.us
EDI Caucus@edicaucus.bsky.social · 2mo agoIf you work in the research sector - are involved in funding panels, applications, demand management, or work in EDI in research institutions, this one's for you. EDICa is launching on 30 June 3-4pm four reports on EDI in the Research Process. On zoom. Register: go.hw.ac.uk/EDICa/Resear...
This was an excellent webinar considering the challenges for LGBTQ+ researchers/those working on LGBTQ+ topics of doing impact and public engagement work in an increasingly queerphobic cultural context. This recent article has been published by the research team: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
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EDI Caucus@edicaucus.bsky.social · 2mo agoIs all publicity good publicity? Navigating public backlash to LGBTQ+ Research An EDICa Flexible Fund project is hosting a free webinar on Wednesday, 24 June 2026 12:30-14:00 BST online (BSL is available). www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-na...
Our postdoc Dr. Siddhartha Saxena, presented his research on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and algorithmic decision-making at the European Academy of Management conference 2026 in Kristiansand, Norway. #EURAM2026 #EDI #AlgorithmicDecisionMaking #Research #Inclusion 1/2
Distributed peer review ‘good but no holy grail’, Dsit official says. Dsit-UKRI metascience unit also plans survey of how and why researchers use AI. #ARMA2026 www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
Distributed peer review ‘good but no holy grail’, Dsit official says - Research Professional News
Arma 2026: Dsit-UKRI metascience unit also plans survey of how and why researchers use AI
researchprofessionalnews.com
Our funding applications are all been assessed by panels from our Interdisciplinary Assessment College, based on the model developed by UKRI for its Cross Research Council Responsive Mode. These panels are all monitored by an observer - but what is an observer, and why is their role so important?
Behind the Curtain: The Role of an Observer on Funding Panels
Many funding panels are now including the role of observers as part of their assessment processes. Here, Samantha Aspinall reflects on what…
medium.com
When we talk about equality, diversity & inclusion... we're not just talking about race and gender. We're also talking about UK geographical diversity. We're talking more than half of research funding going to 24 unis. "Large, well-resourced institutions can be read as a signal of quality."EDICa 🧵
EDI Caucus@edicaucus.bsky.social · 2mo agoIf you work in the research sector - are involved in funding panels, applications, demand management, or work in EDI in research institutions, this one's for you. EDICa is launching on 30 June 3-4pm four reports on EDI in the Research Process. On zoom. Register: go.hw.ac.uk/EDICa/Resear...
Read this short thread which touches on EDI implications of requiring universities to limit number of applications (“demand management”) and use of AI to review applications.
Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2mo ago'Speaking this week at an event held by the Foundation for Science and Technology, Ian Chapman...was asked by former Conservative minister for universities and research, David Willetts, about a “nightmare scenario” for UKRI, where research grant applications are mass-produced with AI tools.' 1/4
Major UK research funders green light AI for processing grant bids. Stance on generative AI softens, but final funding decisions still taken “by humans”. Latest from #ARMA2026. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Major UK research funders green light AI for processing grant bids - Research Professional News
Arma 2026: Stance on generative AI softens, but final funding decisions still taken “by humans”
researchprofessionalnews.com
Concerning and something we want to explore further from a desktop computer. Anyone else have experience of AI LLM sexism in academic lit reviews?
Mel Andrews@bayesianboy.bsky.social · 2mo agoWhen utilized in literature review, LLMs consistently 1. fail to mention female authors in female-led literatures, 2. insist that men are more influential or more heavily cited when this is contradicted by objective citation counts, and 3. attribute women’s work to hallucinated male scholars.
We are pleasantly surprised someone reads our alt texts! Unless this is a bot…
I'm a Lectern@notpodium.bsky.social · 2mo agocorrect alt: standing at a *lectern
“Particularly in terms of why would we send this money up to Scotland? That did kind of come up… it wasn’t explicit, but it was just sort of almost as if Scotland’s a long way away kind of thing” On peer review panel bias EDICa’s postdoc Dr Dong Lin presenting at #ARMA2026
At the risk of being controversial, I'm not sure how tweaking the wording in REF2029 guidance around research and people diversity, without some discussion about how it might impact scoring, will shift the dial on what gets submitted. #ARMA2029
Did I really just hear that the REF2029 institutional assessment panel hasn't been recruited yet and so their working methods aren't going to be available with the other guidance? Given how important that section will be that seems an oversight?
@cash4questions.bsky.social acknowledging the challenging sector we work in right now, which has been a bit of a theme in #ARMA2026 #Research #ResearchDevelopment
Cardiff Uni’s Wellcome-funded project on developing research culture using a training programme. Research professionals benefited greatly from the training. Tailoring training to career path (teaching, research, PS) is needed but networking also useful. But culture change takes time. #ARMA2026
