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<p>UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) believes that Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
(EDI) – of people and ideas – is crucial for delivering excellence in research and
innovation. It has made EDI a priority – as a national research and innovation funder,
as an employer, and as an influential voice in wider research and innovation sectors.</p><p>
</p><p>The seven Research Councils have historically collected information on applicants
for and recipients of funding regarding age, gender, ethnicity, and disability. The
councils do not collect information on social-economic group. Neither Innovate UK
nor Research England collect diversity data of applicants or those in receipt of funding
or loans.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Successive UK Governments have supported the principle
that funding for basic research should be awarded through competitive processes on
the basis of excellence and likely impact - as assessed through peer review. This
is widely considered to be a underpinning factor in the success of UK research, and
a key enabler of value for money for tax payers money. Consequently, HM Government
takes an arms length approach to research funding, in line with the Haldane Principle.</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p>In addition, initial analysis of 2018-19 funding data from the seven
research councils by gender shows that:</p><ul><li>71% of funding from research council
grants and fellowships in 18/19 were awarded to bids led by men and 27% of funds were
allocated to bids led by women. The remainder are bids where gender is undisclosed
or not known.</li><li>42% of the funding for Fellowships went to female Fellows, 52%
of the funds went to male Fellows and 6% of the funds went to Fellows with undisclosed
or unknown gender.</li><li>73% of the funding for research grants were awarded to
projects led by male Principle Investigators (PIs), 25% of the funds were awarded
to projects led by female PIs and 2% of the funds were awarded to projects with PIs
of undisclosed or unknown gender.</li></ul><p><br> UKRI has appointed Professor Jennifer
Rubin, Executive Chair, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as the UKRI Champion
for EDI, and established an External Advisory Group for EDI. The group is working
with UKRI to identify and prioritise areas.</p><p> </p><p>UKRI aims to publish a UKRI-wide
EDI Strategic Framework in Autumn 2019, which will help UKRI to bring together and
scrutinise evidence on what works, develop and prioritise actions, and ensure that
EDI is considered and supported in all that UKRI does.</p><p> </p><p>Work is currently
underway to improve data collection and analysis capabilities about the people UKRI
funds. A detailed cross-UKRI analysis of funding data will be published in Autumn
2019.</p>
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