Research Institute Application Bronze Award
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Research Institute Application Bronze Award ATHENA SWAN BRONZE RESEARCH INSTITUTE AWARDS Recognise a solid foundation for eliminating gender bias and developing an inclusive culture that values all staff. This includes: = an assessment of gender equality in the institute, including quantitative (student and staff data) and qualitative (policies, practices, systems and arrangements) evidence, and identification of both challenges and opportunities = a four-year plan that builds on this assessment, information on activities that are already in place, and what has been learned from these = the development of an organisational structure, including a self-assessment team, to carry proposed actions forward ATHENA SWAN SILVER RESEARCH INSTITUTE AWARDS Recognise a significant record of activity and achievement by the institute in promoting gender equality. In addition to the future planning required for bronze recognition, silver research institute awards recognise that the institute has taken action in response to previously identified challenges, and can demonstrate the impact of the actions implemented. COMPLETING THE FORM DO NOT ATTEMPT TO COMPLETE THIS APPLICATION FORM WITHOUT READING THE ATHENA SWAN AWARDS HANDBOOK. This form should be used for applications for bronze and silver research institute awards. You should complete each section of the application applicable to the award level you are applying for. Additional areas for Silver applications are highlighted throughout the form: 5.3 (iv); 7. If you need to insert a landscape page in your application, please copy and paste the template page at the end of the document, as per the instructions on that page. Please do not insert any section breaks, as these will disrupt the page numbers. 2 WORD COUNT The overall word limit for applications are shown in the following table. There are no specific word limits for the individual sections and you may distribute words over each of the sections as appropriate. At the end of every section, please state how many words you have used in that section. We have provided the following recommendations as a guide. Research institute application Bronze Silver Word limit 12,500 15,000 Recommended word count 1.Letter of endorsement 500 500 2.Description of the institute 1,000 1,000 3. Self-assessment process 1,000 1,000 4. Picture of the institute 2,500 3,500 5. Supporting and advancing careers 6,500 7,000 6. Supporting trans people 500 500 7. Case studies n/a 1,000 8. Further information 500 500 Email request for word count extension Hi Emma, We are happy to grant an additional 1,000 extra words to the Francis Crick Institute for their April 2019 submission to allow the institute to reflect fully on their relationships with partner universities and their role as a training institute. Research institutes already have significantly more words than institutions to explain their unique structures. Please ensure a copy of this email is included at the beginning of your application, and state clearly throughout the application where the additional words have been used. With best wishes, Jess Jessica Kitsell Equality Charters Adviser E [email protected] T +44 (0)20 3870 6022 3 www.advance-he.ac.uk First floor, Westminster Tower 3 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7SP Follow Advance HE on: Twitter I Facebook I LinkedIn ___________________________________ From: Emma Collins [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 28 March 2019 09:02 To: Athena Swan <[email protected]> Cc: Rachael Stewart <[email protected]>; James Briscoe <[email protected]> Subject: Request for additional words - Francis Crick Institute - 30 April submission Dear Athena Swan team, I am writing on behalf of the Francis Crick Institute to request additional words for our Bronze Athena Swan application which will be submitted on 30 April 2019. I apologise for the short notice and I hope that you can give us a response on time. As you will be aware, we are a new institute, having formed in April 2015. The bulk of our staff TUPE transferred from the CRUK London Research Institute and the MRC National Institute for Medical Research. We had an extended period of multi-site working before our new building was ready to move into in August 2016, although the moving process wasn’t complete until early 2017. During this time there were several challenges which impacted on progress towards gender equality: - We stopped recruiting GLs - We stopped promoting LRS staff - We did not transfer diversity data (sensitive personal data) from the legacy institutes due to data protection legislation - We stopped reviewing GLs – both tenure and QQR reviews Although the NIMR had a bronze award, we were not permitted to transfer that, and had to start again with our Athena Swan activities, after a significant delay caused by the TUPE transfer and the physical move. We had to wait until we had 3 years of data to present and we have experienced challenges with this as well. In April 2015 we introduced a new HR system and had to transfer the legacy and new staff data into that. We have changed the grading structure several times and, in addition, had to match the legacy grades to the new grades. This meant a significant amount of work was needed on the 2015 and 2016 data to ensure that we could have a full picture of the career pipelines and staff movement over the last 3 years. We require additional words to explain the history and structure of the Crick, our unique career structure and role as a training institute, and the structures we have inherited from our legacy institutes. There is also the added complexity of the relationships with our partner universities, Kings, UCL and Imperial, and the arrangements for their staff working in our building on satellite or secondment arrangements. 4 I hope that you will consider our request favourably. We are requesting the maximum additional 1000 words. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me. Regards, Emma Emma Collins HR Partner The Francis Crick Institute 1 Midland Road London NW1 1AT T: 020 3796 1167 Internal: 61167 E: [email protected] Please note that my normal working days are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8am to 2.30pm and Wednesday 8am to 5pm. The Francis Crick Institute Limited is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 1140062 and a company registered in England and Wales no. 06885462, with its registered office at 1 Midland Road London NW1 1AT 5 Name of research institute The Francis Crick Institute Date of application 30 April 2019 Award Level Bronze Date joined Athena SWAN July 2016 Current award Date: n/a Level: n/a Contact for application James Briscoe, Senior Group Leader Email [email protected] Telephone 020 379 61388 1. LETTER OF ENDORSEMENT FROM THE HEAD OF INSTITUTE Recommended word count: Bronze: 500 words | Silver: 500 words An accompanying letter of endorsement from the head should be included. Note: Please insert the endorsement letter immediately after this cover page. 6 Athena Swan Manager Equality Challenge Unit First Floor, Westminster Tower 3 Albert Embankment London SE1 7SP 30 April 2019 Dear Athena Swan Team, As a patron of the Athena Swan Charter and Director of the Francis Crick Institute, I am delighted to endorse this application for an Athena Swan Bronze Award. I can confirm that the information presented in this application (including qualitative and quantitative data) is an honest, accurate and true reflection of the Crick. Equality, diversity and inclusion have been central considerations throughout the Crick’s development. In fact, one of our legacy institutes, MRC NIMR successfully applied for an Athena Swan Bronze Award in 2013. I also endorsed that application, promising that the Crick would build on the progress made by NIMR in attracting and creating opportunities for talented women and researchers from under-represented groups and nurturing their careers. The Crick’s Gender Matters in Science Committee was subsequently established immediately following NIMR’s award (before the Crick was formally established) to ensure momentum was maintained. This was shortly followed by our broader Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which reports directly to Crick management. In addition, we now have 8 staff networks covering different staff groups; staff with caring responsibilities, long-term conditions and/or disabilities, underrepresented minorities and staff who identify as LGBT+. These groups organise events and activities to ensure all staff are equally represented and valued by the Crick. Equality and diversity are also central tenants of the Crick’s strategy, Discovery without Boundaries. Specifically, our priority to create future science leaders includes a commitment to support women in science. While 53% of our staff are women, I am acutely aware that our senior scientific workforce does not reflect this aspiration. The Crick inherited a male-dominated Faculty from our legacy institutes – only 18 of the 94 Group Leaders who migrated across from NIMR and LRI were women. This means there are fewer women in our senior scientific leadership resulting in fewer female role models and fewer women on our decision-making Committees. We are proactively addressing this imbalance, and creating a more diverse Faculty in general, by embracing flexible research careers and providing mentoring for all our early-career Group Leaders. To date, over 50% of Crick 6+6 Group Leader appointments have been women. We will maintain this trend, which means that, as our 6+6 Group Leaders start to make up the majority of our Faculty, women will also be far better represented. While preparing our application, we have also become aware of gaps in our data collection processes. Before moving in to our building, the Crick was effectively operating across multiple sites.