Widening opportunities and welcoming innovative and diverse routes to doctoral training is at the core of the AHRC Future Doctoral Provision programme. It is one of the programme’s principles, informed by engagement with the sector.
We want to remove barriers to accessing doctoral education, and enable students from diverse backgrounds to undertake doctoral study in supportive research and training environments.
Our doctoral activity is highlighted in the AHRC equality, diversity and inclusion action plan, to help foster an inclusive research and innovation system.
Examples of EDI activities
Examples of how we are widening opportunities, maintaining and increasing institutional diversity in our doctoral portfolio and supporting award holders to reduce underrepresentation in our doctoral community include:
- adhering to the emerging UKRI Doctoral Investment Framework core offer, outlining UKRI expectations towards training grant award holders across disciplines, which is due to be published in the early 2024
- ensuring geographical coverage across the regions and nations of the UK, building on the progress made through the Doctoral Training Partnerships through the accompanying hubs
- requiring an EDI action plan from all applicants in the last funding round of Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships (CDP4), and funding a coordinator to work with award holders in implementing these plans
- requiring mandatory EDI action plans from all applicants to the new doctoral focal awards in the arts and humanities funding opportunity, with an equality impact assessment published alongside the opportunity
- an emphasis on increasing representation as part of the ‘arts and humanities for the creative economy’ research theme in this funding opportunity
- explicitly encouraging small, specialist institutions to apply for the focal centres for doctoral training in the arts and humanities awards
- requiring that the consortia applying for this new funding opportunity forge equitable partnerships with organisations beyond academia
Last updated: 23 November 2023