Funding Opportunity for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Caucus

UK Research and Innovation

Relevent Country: United Kingdom

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the British Academy jointly invite applications for an interdisciplinary team to establish and lead an equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) caucus.

The caucus, which is made up of practitioners and researchers from a broad range of disciplines and sectors, will be responsible for providing high quality research evidence on EDI that informs policy and practice in the research and innovation system.

Objectives

The objectives of the EDI caucus are as follows:

  • provides insights from research evidence on EDI that informs and shapes the work of the funders, and the broader research and innovation sector
  • address priority evidence gaps by commissioning and undertaking new research and by supporting UKRI and the British Academy in testing and evaluating new EDI-related initiatives
  • promote, coordinate and facilitate interdisciplinary approaches to research on EDI.

The leadership team will be expected to establish the caucus by recruiting an interdisciplinary network of practitioners and researchers on EDI and delivering a program of work following an initial th ree-month co-design phase with UKRI and the British Academy.

Funding Information

  • The full economic cost of your project can be up to £4,562,500 . ESRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost.
  • Applicants should apply for funding for up to three years, and the grant must start no later than 31 January 2023. 
  • The usual three-month leeway may not apply as they will not allow a delay to this start date.

What they will fund?

  • Up to £3,650,000 (80% full economic cost) will be available for the following:
  • a principal investigator (or two co-principal investigators working as a job share) who will serve as the academic lead or leads for the EDI caucus
  • co-investigators who together with the principal investigator (or co-principal investigators) will form the leadership team for the caucus
  • a project manager who can act as a point of contact for the funders and coordinate caucus’ activities, including:
  • communications
  • briefings
  • research commissioning
  • impact tracking
  • postdoctoral research assistance that may be pooled across small research projects or used to provide academic input into the provision of evidence briefings and reviews
  • a flexible commissioning fund of at least £750,000 funding period, that the caucus leadership team would manage and use to commission research activities that address priority evidence gaps.
  • estates and indirect costs relating to staff employed to support the caucus
  • funding for travel, subsistence and venue hire for events held by the caucus as well as for meetings with key stakeholders
  • the cost of any external communication, including website development.

Eligibility Criteria

This funding opportunity is open to researchers from:

  • UK higher education institutions
  • research council institutes
  • UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-approved independent research organizations
  • public sector research institutions
  • third sector organizations with research capacity.
  • Principal investigators must be based at a UK institution eligible for UKRI funding. The organization will be responsible for submitting the grant application to UKRI.
  • If the application is from two co-principal investigators who will lead the caucus on a job share basis, applicants based at different institutions must nominate one institution to be responsible for submitting the grant application.
  • Applicants do not need to be in an existing job-share arrangement to apply on this basis.

Source: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/equality-diversity-and-inclusion-caucus/