Newsletter – December 2024

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Race, Equity & Diversity in Careers

Formed in January 2024, the Race Equity and Diversity in Careers (REDiC) Incubator was developed to build research capacity and support the development of research careers for racially minoritised health and care professionals. The Incubator’s work is driven by the themes of the NIHR Research Inclusion Strategy. This includes the ambition to increase the diversity of NIHR researchers, award holders and panel members.

REDiC Launch: ‘Health & Care Researcher Inclusion: Meet the Funders’ Event Report

The NIHR supported ‘Race Equity & Diversity in Careers’ (REDiC) Incubator held their virtual launch event ‘Health & Care Researcher Inclusion: Meet the Funders’, on Wednesday 11th September 2024. It was a great success with over 100 participants attending the 2-hour webinar.

Our lead Prof. Yemisi Takwoingi introduced the Incubator to the audience outlining our aim, Incubator structure and activity to date. This was followed by Humaira Abbas and Henry Mbawa who shared details of NIHR capacity building initiatives and current opportunities, supported through the NIHR Academy.

Our breakout discussion sessions gave participants the opportunity to share their positive experiences of overcoming barriers to research and reasons for success. A recurrent theme which came through the discussions was the support participants had received from mentors and allies and how much of a positive impact this made to them. Peer contact and support was also discussed as being vital for reducing isolation, sharing of resources and providing a source of personal validation. Access to case studies of researchers from an ethnic minority background was discussed and it was felt that the promotion of the ‘lived experience’ would encourage and motivate those from similar backgrounds to apply for research funding and awards.

Suggestions for activity from funders to complement ongoing positive efforts to address researcher inclusion especially of racially minoritised staff were discussed alongside how the REDiC Incubator can support individuals and organisations.

Finally, we heard from funders NIHR, Medical Research Council’s ‘Black in Biomedical Research’ Advisory Group’ (MRC-BBRAG) and Wellcome to understand how they are supporting researcher inclusion, followed by the opportunity for Q&A.

The talks can be viewed on our REDiC YouTube channel.

REDiC is continuing to work closely with funders to explore how suggestions from the event can be actioned to facilitate researcher inclusion.

Details of upcoming REDiC events will be circulated early 2025.

Yemisi Takwoingi (Professor of Test Evaluation and Evidence Synthesis and Head of Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Birmingham) was a winner in the Evenfield’s Black Talent Awards.

Yemisi was a winner in the Public Sector, NHS and Education category and credited as a role model for those aspiring to work in STEM and the multiple ways she supports students and colleagues to seize opportunities for development and progression in their health and social care careers.

Evenfields connects Black talent and inclusive employers in the UK. As an inclusive employer, the University is proud to be working with Evenfields Careers to support our efforts in reaching a broad audience and attracting applications from across the demographics of the West Midlands region. The Awards ceremony took place on Friday 4 October in Birmingham.

Birmingham Public Health researcher recognised in Black Talent Awards – University of Birmingham

MANSAG Annual Conference

REDiC Co-lead, Prof. Mahendra Patel has been working closely with the Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain (MANSAG) who held their annual conference on 25th – 26th October 2024.

Prof. Patel was invited to speak at the event and together developing a research manifesto with the aim of supporting more inclusive research for the Black community. The manifesto was presented to the Nigerian Health Minister.

REDiC is also supporting MANSAG’s Research Series Seminars which will continue into 2025.

Further details available on MANSAG’s website.

Black Legacy in Student Success (BLiSS) mentoring scheme launches

The BLiSS mentoring scheme is aimed at supporting undergraduate students studying STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) subjects in the North West. The scheme has been cofounded by Dr Oluwaseun Esan, based at the University of Liverpool and a REDiC member, in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Full details about the successful BLiSS launch event and the BLiSS mentoring scheme.

Minoritised Life Scientists Future Forum
CONNECT, EMPOWER, INSPIRE
31 March – 2 April 2025, ICC Birmingham

Europe’s first conference supporting scientists from marginalised and underrepresented backgrounds.

A pioneering event aimed at empowering underrepresented voices and marginalised communities in STEM.

Over 200 hours of content, including workshops, symposia, mentoring, and networking sessions.
A focus on tackling barriers faced by marginalised and underrepresented groups in STEM, including Black scientists, LGBTQIA+ individuals, disabled scientists, and neurodivergent researchers

For further details please see the Minoritised Life Scientists Future Forum conference website

The EMPOWEReD initiative: Shaping Tomorrow’s Doctors

There is a growing recognition that medical education must go beyond knowledge delivery to prepare students for clinical practice adequately. The EMPOWEReD initiative—Empowering Medical Professionals through Peer-led, Online, Work-based Education for Real-world Development, equips students with the skills in leadership, teamwork and communication they need to transition confidently into practice.

At the heart of EMPOWEReD are two innovative programmes:

SIMBA (Simulation via Instant Messaging for Bedside Application): This programme allows students to collaborate in creating realistic clinical cases for simulation-based teaching.
CoMICs (Concise Medical Information Cines): CoMICs focuses on developing short, accessible educational videos that simplify complex medical topics.

You can find out more about the project on the EMPOWEReD website

NIHR Academy News: Changes to career development opportunities

Since 2018, the NIHR Academy has been working to break down barriers to career progression in research. But our portfolio of opportunities has grown over the years and become complex.

What’s changing?

To ensure our career development opportunities are accessible, we are simplifying our fellowship offering to a single award at predoctoral, doctoral and postdoctoral levels.

By simplifying our awards, but keeping our background-specific funding committees, we will improve the experience for applicants but maintain the level of funding and background-specific support that is currently available.

Timelines

The first simplified award to launch will be the Predoctoral Award in January 2025. Doctoral and Postdoctoral awards will run twice a year.

Award	Application window
Predoctoral Award	29 January 2025 – 20 March
Postdoctoral Award	26 March – 21 May
Doctoral Award	9 April – 10 June

We will maintain all our other career development opportunities, meaning researchers can access additional support such as the Development, Skills and Enhancement Award and Pre-Application Support Fund.

More information on the NIHR website.

NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration (GM PSRC) Patient Safety Research Development Award

An initiative designed to support aspiring patient safety researchers in taking the next step in their careers. This award offers an incredible opportunity for professionals such as clinicians, practitioners, methodologists, and those in health and care settings to:

Secure protected time to spend with the GM PSRC team.
Work towards submitting a future funding application via the NIHR Career Development Awards or other equivalent schemes.
Develop their research knowledge and skills.

The scheme is open to professionals based in the North West and East Midlands areas, offering up to £15,000 to cover salary backfill, training, and public engagement activities. Award recipients will complete a short placement with the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration (GM PSRC), working 1–2 days per week over up to a 12-month period. Eligible professionals include allied health, pharmacy, nursing and midwifery, local authority, social workers, public health professionals, healthcare scientists and researchers in methodology. We welcome applications from individuals at different career stages, including those wishing to secure further funding at pre-doctoral, doctoral, post-doctoral and senior investigator level.

Applications close on 7 January 2025.

Read more about the Patient Safety Research Development Award and the application process.

NIHR Round 2 of the Team Science Award is now open for applications!

The Round 2 of the award aims to bring together researchers interested in Applied Health and Social Care Research Methodology from various disciplines and career stages with a wide range of experiences to tackle complex current and emerging health and social care challenges.

The NIHR website details more information on the award along with guidance notes.

NIHR Learn: Develop your influencing skills

NIHR’s latest e-learning module will help you uncover a range of influencing tactics, understand your influencing style and build an influencing toolkit.

Available to anybody working in or supporting health and care research, the 40-minute course explores ways to engage people or groups and find strategies for overcoming influencing blockers.

Find out more on NIHR Learn.

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