A new organisation to support black researchers has been backed by some of the UK’s leading learned societies and research funders.
Launched on 3 April, the will work with four of the UK’s national academies – the Royal Society, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Medical Sciences – as well as UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Wellcome Trust, to address the underrepresentation of black researchers in UK academia and research more widely.
About 8 per cent of the UK’s domestic undergraduates are black but this figure falls to about 5 per cent at postgraduate research level and 3 per cent for academic staff, Fewer than 1 per cent of professors are black, equating to just 140 black professors at UK universities.
The new body, which is supported by seed funding from the Elsevier Foundation and the researcher development body CRAC-Vitae, will run until at least 2030 and is currently recruiting its first director.
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In a statement the organisation said it would be “led by black researchers and black-led organisations” and aimed to “bridge the gap in provision for existing and potential black researchers by bringing together black-led organisations and community groups, black early career researchers, and researchers in academia and industry, to create an infrastructure which supercharges existing provision.”
That would include providing opportunities for networking, mentorship, and skill development, supporting opportunities and training for black researchers in academia, industry, government, and other sectors and “serving as a valuable resource for organisations, research institutions, and universities seeking expert advice on fostering inclusivity and diversity in research environments.”
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“By shining a light on, collaborating with, and amplifying existing provision by black-led organisations for black researchers, the consortium seeks to create a more equitable and inclusive research landscape in the UK,” the organisation said.
Ottoline Leyser, chief executive of UK Research and Innovation, described the establishment of the consortium as “welcome development in the drive to amplify excellence and creativity in research and innovation through the inclusion of a diversity of people and perspectives”.
Margot Finn, vice-president for higher education and research at the British Academy, said the consortium’s approach to “addressing the underrepresentation of black researchers rightly prioritises the expertise of existing black researchers, black-led organisations and black community groups already working in this area”.
“This partnership furthers the academy’s drive to play our part in creating a fairer and more equitable research landscape in the UK. We are keen to collaborate on this initiative and look forward to the conversations to come.”
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