Promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in research
The NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) is committed to supporting and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), recognising that delivering world-class research requires diversity of research staff, patients and research participants. Our support for EDI, which is aligned with the NIHR’s Research Inclusion strategy, will include actions across all 15 of our research themes and our enabling hubs, and will involve staff at all levels, from senior leaders to more junior staff.
Oxford BRC EDI Strategy
This strategy sets out our six core EDI objectives, which have been informed by consultation with our BRC themes and key stakeholders. We aim to review the strategy regularly and take corrective action where required.
“I am delighted to endorse our BRC’s first Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. It sets out our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and our six core EDI objectives. Equality, diversity and inclusion are strongly associated with both academic and organisational excellence and this strategy underpins our efforts to produce world class research for patient benefit. A collaborative, partnership approach will be used to ensure that EDI is considered a core value across the whole BRC.”
We adhere to and support equality charters, including the Athena SWAN Charter and Race Equality Charter. The University of Oxford was awarded an institutional silver award in February 2023. All of the departments in the Medical Sciences Division, where most BRC researchers are based, have at least a silver award, with three departments awarded gold. As the BRC is a partnership and does not employ staff directly, our EDI activities take into account the strategies and action plans of our two partner organisations, Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) and the University of Oxford, and aims to add value rather than duplicate activities.