Inclusion & Diversity Fund

Our Inclusion and Diversity Fund provides financial support for innovative products, activities and research projects that do just that.

Previous recipients of our funding have included projects related to gender, disability, socio-economic background, language, race and ethnicity, the LGBT+ community and more. These have been delivered via initiatives such as data collection and analysis, workshops, conferences and hackathons.

We will consider individual applications up to the value of £5,000. Funding greater than £5,000 may be considered for one project each year. Please contact the diversity team for more details.

Who can apply

The grant scheme is open to everyone (individuals and organisations). This includes, but is not limited to, members of the Royal Society of Chemistry, member-led groups, researchers in academia or industry, museums, community groups, not-for-profit organisations, arts groups and libraries.

Previous recipients of any of our grants are welcome to apply for funding. This can be to scale-up a project that already exists or to fund the development of an original project.

Applicants should not resubmit an unsuccessful application unless invited to do so.

Eligibility

The proposed project must focus on inclusion and diversity – outreach or chemistry research projects will not be considered. If your application is considered more suitable for the Outreach Fund we will contact you and seek your approval to transfer your application.

Applications relating to a range of audiences will be considered, including different age groups, career stages, geographical regions and sectors.

For further detail on our audiences for inclusion and diversity activities please see our inclusion and diversity strategy.

Please note, the Inclusion & Diversity Fund is intended for projects that directly investigate or address inclusion and diversity issues in the chemical sciences. The Inclusion and Diversity Fund is not intended to fund chemistry research.

Assessment criteria

All applications should clearly show that the proposed project:

is centred on increasing inclusion and diversity in the chemical sciences community;
is relevant to our inclusion and diversity strategy;
has a clearly defined target audience;
has a clearly defined intended impact;
is deliverable; and
includes clear evaluation plans.

In addition, applicants should show that the requested funding will make a significant difference to their ability to deliver the project.

Restrictions on funding

Inclusion and Diversity Fund grants will not be awarded to:

projects which do not focus on investigating or addressing inclusion and diversity issues (i.e. outreach projects or chemistry research projects);
projects whose primary aim is to generate a financial surplus;
projects for which our support would not significantly enhance the activity;
projects that are part of an education institution's usual programme of activities, including Open Days and Taster Days;
cover the cost of general purpose hardware, apparatus or equipment; or
cover any employment costs of project staff that receive a salary from the applying organisation.

Past projects

Title

Project summary

Amount Awarded

Contact

Institution

Gender awareness in initial teacher education in chemistry

A research project to evaluate gender awareness in teacher training across universities offering PGCE programmes in Chemistry in Scotland.

£1,200

Claire Smith

University of Glasgow

Supporting inclusion and encouraging diversity in Chemistry - where do you see yourself?

Creation of a Careers in Chemistry Toolkit to record career journeys of minority group chemists and pharmaceutical scientists.

£2,000

Baljit Thatti

Individual

When, why and where does gender affect performance in chemistry

A study to assess the learning approaches of undergraduate chemistry students, in relation to gender.

£5,000

Sylvia Draper

Individual

The impact of prior knowledge on first year chemistry performance

Examination of the effect of pre-university chemistry education on engagement to identify the barriers to inclusivity.

£4,878

Lorna Nisbet

Anglia Ruskin University

Evaluating support strategies for positive mental health among academic staff in Higher Education STEM departments

Investigation into mental health support for academics in STEM departments across England. Dissemination of success stories and good practice.

£3,050

Gemma Sweeney

University of Huddersfield

Science is for everyone, Unconscious Bias training for Primary schools

Development and delivery of a teacher toolkit and training session for chemistry teachers to address Unconscious Bias in the classroom.

£5,000

Francesca Gale

Genome Research Limited

Establishing a Women In Supramolecular Chemistry (WISC) network

Establishment of a mentoring network to increase diversity within the global supramolecular chemistry community.

£4,825

Jennifer Hiscock

Individual

Towards a better understanding of the barriers and opportunities for children with learning difficulties in the chemistry classroom

A case study approach to understanding the barriers that current practices in school chemistry present to learners with SEND.

£4,916

Jane Essex

University of Strathclyde

Women in Chemistry conference and careers event 2020

International Women's Day Conference bringing together 150 chemists (of all genders) from academia, industry and science communication.

£2,000

Rhona Savin

University of Nottingham Women in Chemistry Group

PSoC distinguished seminar series: breaking barriers

A series of inclusion and diversity events, including round-table discussions on issues of equality and diversity to celebrate the successes of underrepresented groups.

£4,193

Nicola Rogers

PSoC - Postdoctoral Society of Chemistry, University of Warwick

Deaf students: removing barriers to education and training in chemistry

Investigation into the uptake and attainment of chemistry education by deaf school pupils and development of bespoke HPLC training courses.

£5,000

Mark Jones

RLC-lab

Beyond breaking bias

Continued investigation into a breaking bias textbook survey, aiming to provide high-quality and curriculum-focused resources to teachers.

£4,950

Claire Murray and Michael Seery

Diamond Light Source and University of Edinburgh

Title	Project summary	Amount awarded	Contact	Institution
Analysis of the undergraduate degree course selection of female A-level students studying chemistry	Investigation into the barriers faced by girls at the A-level to chemistry undergraduate transition in the Huddersfield/Wakefield/Leeds area	£5,000	Gemma Sweeney	University of Huddersfield
Assessing and promoting inclusion of the differently-abled in educational institutions in eastern India - with special reference to the chemical science community	Assessing and promoting inclusion of the differently-abled in educational institutions in eastern India	£4,450	Abha Rani	Indian Institute of Technology, Dhanbad
Breaking Bias - Representation of Women in Chemistry Curricula	Critical evaluation of the gender of scientists reported in UK and ROI secondary school chemistry textbooks, in order to identify whether there is unconscious bias which diminishes the work of women	£2,000	Claire Murray	Diamond Light Source
Chemclusion: investigating factors that promote active inclusion in undergraduate chemistry among people with disabilities	Preliminary research on approaches that work in supporting learners with disabilities in pursuing chemistry education.	£4,550	Michael Seery	University of Edinburgh
Reaching Equilibrium	'Hackathon' to bring together 40 early career researchers and industry representatives to work on projects to increase diversity in STEM	£1,000	Jess Wade	Imperial College London
INCLUDE: An Inclusive Chemical Landscape Underpinning Diversity & Equality	Investigating and overcoming the barriers for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds engaging with the chemical sciences.	£3,875	Alex Hamilton	Sheffield Hallam University

Title	Project summary	Amount awarded	Contact	Institution
Inspiring language communities - Multilingual Manchester	Bilingual researchers work with difficult to reach communities where English is not the first language	£500	Nick Weise	University of Manchester
Quest University Canada Supporting our Minorites in STEM	Funding for a COACh workshop to develop women in leadership	£1,500	Emma Davy	Quest University, Canada
Stories of women in STEM	Exhibition of photographs and interviews with women in STEM	£2,000	Rhys Archer	University of Manchester
SciSisters	Technical support for the scisisters website	£925	Polly Arnold	University of Edinburgh
BAME researchers - How to stay in academia conference	A one-day conference at King’s College London, Workshops include speed networking, importance of mentoring, well-being, career life balance, and applying and writing fellowships.	£2,000	Bernadine Idowu	KCL
International Outreach (NZ)	University of Otego working with rural schools in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia to share outreach experiences working in NZ rural schools with teachers and teacher trainers in Sarawak	£2,000	David Warren	University of Otago
LGBT+ STEMinar	The LGBT+ STEMinar is a one-day event designed to benefit people who work or study in STEM subjects and identify as LGBT+ or are allies. The aim of the meeting is to showcase research and policy work from diverse fields and to encourage networking and collaborations between different departments, Universities, companies and disciplines.	£1,000	Derek Wann	University of York
Richness in Diversity Career Pathways in STEM	One day conference to raise the profile of female and minority academics. Particular focus has been paid to selecting speakers who have had a ‘non-typical’ route into academia, who represent a minority group, or who have experienced life events that may have had a major impact on their career.	£1,545	Jennifer Rudd	Swansea University
Seen and Heard seminar series	A series of 30-minute lunchtime seminars that • Provide a space for women, non-binary and genderfluid folks, and members of other under-represented groups working in research and academia to meet and come together (community-building) • Acknowledge the issues that affect women* in research and academia, and discuss potential solutions for these issues • Provide opportunities to hear the perspectives of individuals who are often unheard in academic spaces (e.g., women, non-binary individuals, disabled individuals, members of ethnic minority groups, among others)	£2,000	Martha Gulman	Women in research Ireland
Sensory Science	The Sensory Science programme enables disabled children to discover the world of science through play, exploration and creativity and in doing so, challenges the misconception that the scientific world is not a place for people with disabilities.	£1,996	Katherine Sparkes

Title	Project summary	Amount awarded	Contact	Institution
Adaptation of Forensic Science Teaching Materials	Adapting Forensic Science teaching materials for students with disabilities or ESL	£850	Lynsey Shaw	Strathclyde University
Anonymising CVs	Developing approach for anonymising CVs; Chemistry department want to be involved as well	£2,000	Jenny Clark	Sheffield University
Big Bang Bristol	Big bang event targeting girls and BAME students from hard to reach areas (free school meals, no university connections, under performing schools etc.)	£2,000	Matthew Lee	University of Bristol
Career returners workshops	Women career returners workshop	£2,000	Penny Coggill	CamAWiSE
Durham PG Events Comm	Careers events for postgrads and postdocs including discussions about gender balance in STEM academia and associated challeges	£2,000	Laura Smith	University of Durham
Hidden Women Wikithon	Producing wikipedia pages for women in STEM	£500	Jess Wade	Imperial College
LGBT STEMinar	LGBT STEM conference	£500	Craig O'Hare	Lancaster University
WICTO	Women in Chemistry Toronto conference	£2,000	Nimrat Obhi	Toronto

Application deadlines

Application round deadline:	19 April 2021
Funding decision deadline:	4 June 2021
Application round deadline:	13 September 2021
Funding decision deadline:	29 October 2021

How to apply

All applications must be submitted through our online application system.

Apply now

Contact the Inclusion and diversity team:

Tel:: +44 (0) 1223 438334
Email:: send us an email

Application deadlines

How to apply

Prizes & funding

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