Most academics rely on being awarded external funding to pursue their research agenda. Furthermore, winning grants is a marker of prestige within academia, and researchers’ careers and promotion opportunities can be determined by whether they have received grant funding.
However, there is much research to demonstrate that academics from minoritised groups do not apply for, or receive, grants at the same level as researchers in non-minoritised groups.
The Improving Inclusivity in Grant Funding (I3GF) project aims to examine the extent of disparities in application rates and success rates for researchers within the University of Cambridge seeking research grant funding. The team will do this by linking administrative data from across the university including demographic information, grant data, and publication data.
In consultation with sector experts and researchers from a range of disciplines and backgrounds, the team will also collate a list of potential solutions to address any disparities found and estimate the cost-effectiveness of each proposal.
The two-year project is led by Steven Wooding, Head of Research on Research, based in the Research Strategy Office.
The research team for this project is based in the Research Strategy Office, working in association with the Bennett Institute for Public Policy. The team is supported by a grant from Research England (Enhancing Research Culture Fund).
