These awards celebrate staff leading the way in equality, diversity and inclusion across the Faculty. From inclusive research and education to fairer funding and career development, this year’s winners and nominees have made a lasting impact on creating a more equitable academic environment. Congratulations to all! Winners were announced at the awards ceremony on June 4th as followed:

Dean’s Excellence in EDI Innovation Award

Joint-winner: Katerina Fotopoulou and The Co-Production Project Team-  have redesigned the ERB Centre’s small grant process. Their collaboration with community partners has led to the implementation of inclusive criteria, bias checks, and a partial lottery system to ensure fairness and equity.

Joint-winner: Rashmi Mathew and Christin Henein, Institute of Ophthalmology – are recognized for their initiatives, EyeBelong and EyeInclude, which promote inclusion in postgraduate education, enhancing student belonging and teaching culture.

The Contribution to EDI in Education and Student Experience Award

Winner: Professor Jon Roiser, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences (PaLS) – for exceptional leadership of the UCL-Wellcome 4-year PhD in Mental Health Science. His work includes ring-fenced studentships for racially minoritised applicants, blinded shortlisting to reduce bias, and the integration of lived experience through co-production training and advisory roles—setting a new standard for inclusive postgraduate education.

Runners Up: Ally Tomlins, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences (PaLS) – for the “Living Library” initiative, which centres lived experience in mental health education. Ally created a space where students engage directly with experts by experience, individuals with personal histories of mental health challenges, promoting empathy, reflection, and inclusive learning.

Contribution to EDI in Research Award

Winner: Professor Karoline Kuchenbaecker, Division of Psychiatry – for pioneering research in genomics that has transformed understanding of genetic findings across ancestries. Their work has laid the foundation for equitable precision medicine and exposed ancestry biases in NHS genomic care. As Scientific Lead for Diverse Data in a national programme, Karoline leads initiatives tackling health disparities, including major studies on Sickle Cell Disease and maternal health. 

Runner-up: Fahima Kathun, UCL Ear Institute – for outstanding leadership of the NIHR UCLH BRC Hearing Health Theme PPIE Panel. Fahima has embedded EDI principles into hearing health research by engaging individuals with lived experience of hearing loss from diverse backgrounds. Their co-produced work has influenced national collaborations and ensured underrepresented voices shape research design, public engagement, and governance. 

Contribution to EDI in Practice Award

Winner: Dr Conceição Bettencourt, Institute of Neurology- They have shown

 outstanding leadership at the Institute of Neurology by leading career development initiatives that address systemic barriers for all staff, especially technical staff and professional services, and underrepresented groups. Key efforts include workshops on promotions, networking events, and career development support, all driven by data and collaboration. 

Runner-up: Jane Hahn, Nafiso Ahmed, Ilaria Costantini, and Rawleka Wilson, Division of Psychiatry- for their Mental Health Careers Workshop, which supported students from diverse backgrounds in exploring mental health careers.

We are delighted to announce the shortlist for this year’s Brain Sciences EDI Awards 2025!

A huge thank you to everyone who submitted nominations. This year, we received an incredible 20 nominations across our four award categories, showcasing the inspiring work happening across the Faculty to advance EDI.

Congratulations to all those nominated, and a special well done to our shortlisted individuals and teams. Your commitment to creating a more inclusive academic and research culture is truly making a difference. Stay tuned as we celebrate your achievements in the lead-up to the awards at the Centre for Equality Research in Brain Sciences Annual Seminar 2025!

Dean’s Excellence in EDI Innovation Award

Aikaterini Fotopoulou & The Co-production Project Team, faculty-wide

The Co-Production Project Team, led by Aikaterini Fotopoulou, has been shortlisted for their collaborative redesign of the Centre for Equality Research in Brain Sciences’ (ERB Centre) small grant selection process. With funding from the Co-Production Collective, the team, comprising academics and underrepresented community partners, developed inclusive criteria, application materials and a transparent shortlisting process that incorporated bias checks and a partial lottery system. Their approach ensured fairness, equity and lived experience input at every stage, setting a new standard for inclusive research funding.

Rashmi Mathew, IoO

Rashmi Mathew has been shortlisted for their transformative work embedding inclusion across postgraduate education at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. Through initiatives like EyeBelong and EyeInclude, Professor Mathew has improved student belonging and championed inclusive pedagogy, including enhancing induction and teaching culture. Their leadership spans innovative programme design, curriculum review, and national clinical workforce development, impacting both institutional policy and student experience.

Contribution to EDI in Education and Student Experience

Jon Rosier, PaLS

Jon Roiser has been shortlisted for the exceptional leadership of the UCL-Wellcome 4-year PhD in Mental Health Science. Initiatives include ring-fenced studentships for racially minoritised applicants, blinded shortlisting to reduce bias, and embedding lived experience in research through co-production training and advisory roles. This work has set a new standard for inclusive postgraduate education.

Ally Tomlins, PaLS

Ally Tomlins has been shortlisted for her innovative “Living Library” initiative, which reimagines mental health education by centring lived experience and student reflection. The Living Library allows students to check out a conversation with an expert by experience (EBE), individuals from diverse backgrounds who have personal histories of mental health challenges. Ally led this project from the ground up, overseeing everything from concept design and participant recruitment to relationship building, facilitation, and logistics.

Contribution to EDI in Practice

Jane Hahn; Nafiso Ahmed; Ilaria Costantini and Rawleka Wilson, IoN

As part of the REED Outreach program, four nominees have been selected to organise a workshop to broaden access to mental health careers for ethnically minoritised students. The event attracted over 25 participants, ranging from sixth-form students to postgraduates, and featured a diverse lineup of speakers from clinical, academic, and research fields. Highlights included an engaging speed networking session, CV and application advice, and insights into various career pathways. The overwhelmingly positive feedback, particularly from students new to these opportunities, has directly influenced future outreach plans to inspire and support underrepresented students earlier in their academic journeys.

Conceicao Bettencourt, IoN

Conceicao Bettencourt is recognised for leading career development initiatives that promote equity and inclusion at UCL and beyond. As Chair of the UCL-ION Career Development Action Group, they have launched targeted workshops, addressed barriers to progression—especially for women and Professional Services staff—and improved promotion success rates. A dedicated mentor, Conceicao also helped establish a national mentoring scheme for dementia researchers, which now supports over 3,000 individuals. Their efforts continue to foster a more inclusive and supportive research culture.

Contribution to EDI in Research

Fahima Kathun, Ear Institute

Fahima Kathun has been shortlisted for their exceptional contribution to leading to NIHR UCLH BRC Hearing Health Theme PPIE Panel and embedding EDI in hearing health research.  The panel brings together individuals with lived experience of hearing loss from diverse backgrounds, actively shaping research at every stage—from co-design to public engagement. Their influence extends across institutions and national collaborations, including co-produced work with ARC North Thames and the British Society of Audiology. The panel has helped ensure that underrepresented voices are central to hearing health research by developing inclusive materials, hosting community workshops, and influencing strategic governance.

Karoline Kuchenbaecker, DoP

Karoline Kuchenbaecker has been shortlisted for their work in genomic research. Their groundbreaking research, published in leading journals such as Cell, Nature Genetics, and JAMA Psychiatry,has transformed the understanding of genetic findings across different ancestries, laying the foundation for more equitable precision medicine. Their impact extends far beyond academia. As the Scientific Lead for Diverse Data in a government-funded national program, they have identified ancestry biases in NHS genomic medicine and have led initiatives to address these issues. Currently, they are heading multi-million-pound national studies, including research on Sickle Cell Disease and maternal health, to close data gaps and reduce health disparities.

The UCL Inclusion Awards recognise the work or contributions that individuals or teams make to progressing equality, diversity, or inclusion practice within UCL. We’re delighted that several staff and students in the Faculty of Brain Sciences have been nominated and shortlisted for these awards.

Congratulations to the outstanding staff and students shortlisted in each category. Your remarkable efforts in advancing equality, diversity, and inclusion contribute to a better UCL. On behalf of the Faculty EDI Team, we are immensely proud of all you do. Below are the shortlisted nominees for each category.

Provost’s award for embedding equality, diversity & inclusion (staff only)

• Jess Jiang, Institute of Neurology

Sarah Guise Award for Catalyst for Change

• Alan Thompson, Faculty Office
• The Staff-Student Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (SSEDI) at the Anna Freud Centre, led by Vanessa Puetz & Lili Ly, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
• Psychiatry/REED Group Black History Month Outreach Project team: Jane Hahn, Rachel Royston, Lauren Harding-Brown, Bori Vegh, Nafiso Ahmed, Division of Psychiatry
• Rawleka Wilson, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
• Sharvari Patil,  Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Sir Stephen Wall Award: Inspiring Role Model

• Comfort Ogbonnaya & Elena Zeniou, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Championing Disability Inclusion at UCL

• Calum Medlock and Varsha Ravikumar, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
• Georgia Pavlopoulou, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Award for EDI Excellence

• The National Autism Trainer Programme team: Georgia Pavlopoulou , Claire Evans, Hanna MacDonald, Arshia Choudhrie, Dominique Gardner, Ruth Moyse, Venessa Bobb Swaby, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
• The Staff-Student Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (SSEDI) at the Anna Freud Centre, led by Vanessa Putz & Lili Ly, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
• Kenneth Harris and Matteo Carandini lab, and in particular, Rebecca (Bex) Terry, Karolina Socha, Enny van Beest, Institute of Neurology

Also, congratulations to all those who were nominated from Brain Sciences, listed below:

• Benjamin O’Callaghan
• Helene Plun Favreau
• Karolina Socha & Bex Terry
• Katerina Fotopoulou
• Natalie Marchant
• Professor Fred Dick
• Professor Tim Levine
• Sam Gilbert
• Anna Cox
• Diana Sefic-Svara
• Heather Ormsby
• Helen Baker
• Karolina Socha
• Professor Leslie M Gutman
• The DClinPsy Staff EDI Team: Dr Chelsea Gardener, Dr Leanna Ong, Dr Elizabeth Hogg, Dr Shah Alam, Dr Hestia Moningka
• Dorottya Hetenyi
• George Joseph
• Adam Parker & Louise Neil
• Bex Terry, Karolina Socha, Enny van Beest
• Kenneth Harris & Matteo Carandini lab, and in particular, Bex Terry, Karolina Socha, Enny van Beest
• Professor Gabriella Vigliocco & Mr Rik Ganly-Thomas
• Dr Bhavana Solanky

Each of these remarkable nominees has embraced innovation and dedication to drive positive changes at UCL. Their contributions have been rightfully acknowledged by colleagues across the Faculty and wider UCL.

The award winners will be announced at an in person ceremony on July 16 2024. Good luck to all of these impressive shortlisted nominees from the Faculty of Brain Sciences!

The Faculty EDI awards recognises an individual or group whose activities are impassioning, influencing, and leading positive change, making the Faculty of Brain Sciences or the wider UCL community a more inclusive place to work and study. The winners of the EDI Awards were announced at the Faculty of Brain Sciences EDI Celebration 2023. Across the Faculty, 85 individuals were nominated for their outstanding contributions to equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Below are the categories and their respective winners:

1. Dean’s Excellence in EDI Award

This award recognises an individual or group that has been a catalyst for change and has generated intentional, sustained, impactful, and/or innovative EDI efforts. Efforts can be related to mentoring, advising, community building, teaching, outreach, research activities, hiring/recruitment, department climate, retention, reducing systemic barriers, developing equitable policies — anything that promotes EDI excellence.

Winner: Natalie Marchant- Division of Psychiatry

Natalie Marchant is a trailblazer promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion within UCL’s Division of Psychiatry. Natalie has founded and led the Race Equity and Ethnic Diversity group and chairs the EDI committee. Natalie has initiated innovative projects such as the creation of Divisional In2Science internships and name-blind recruitment for research Grade 6b posts and has created working groups to deliver on these, inspiring her team and supporting junior colleagues. Her values and behaviours have resulted in positive change towards a more inclusive environment.

2. Contribution to EDI in Leadership Award

This award recognises an individual or group whose activities are impassioning, influencing, and leading positive change, making the Faculty of Brain Sciences and the wider UCL community a more inclusive place to work and study.

Winner: Stefanie Anyadi- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Stefanie’s leadership in actively promoting diversity and challenging implicit bias through her Caleidoscope project has been successful. Stefanie’s commitment to this important project has remained steadfast despite challenges brought on by the pandemic. Through her workshops and training methods, Stefanie has shared her vision and inspired the wider UCL community and abroad at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

3. Contribution to EDI in Education and Student Experience Award

This award recognises an individual or group that has developed innovative teaching, learning, and/or assessment practices or other initiatives that advance inclusive education for diverse students and contribute positively to the student experience.

Winner: Tim Young, Tracy Skinner, Jessica Jiang, Benito Maffei, E’Jane (Yi Jie Li), Kangxin Chen Huang, and Mena Farag- Institute of Neurology

This group comprises active Institute of Neurology (IoN) EDI Action Group members, representing all student categories. They have made significant contributions by conducting the IoN student survey on wellbeing, mental health, and career development, organising ‘Paths to PhD’ events, and providing Active Bystander training for students. These initiatives have positively influenced the progress of EDI across different demographics and increased engagement to promote EDI.

5. Contribution to EDI in Research Award

This award recognises a person who has taken the opportunity to engage with staff, speaking openly about their personal experiences in a visible forum that encourages and champions diversity and inclusion in a way that new and existing staff can relate to.

Audrey Zhang- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

Audrey conducted a research project exploring the ‘Effects of Personal and Contextual Factors on Status and Belongingness of First-year Undergraduate Students.’ Audrey administered questionnaires to Psychology students three times and found that mental wellbeing, extraversion, and openness positively contribute to their sense of belonging. Audrey’s research provides useful information for university administrators to improve student success and promote EDI.

4. Contribution to EDI in International Community Award

This award recognises an individual or group that regularly goes above and beyond, making a positive difference to the embodying its ever-growing international community through celebrating culture and/or creating and contributing towards innovative projects and activities that enhance the experience of UCL’s international community.

Winner: Angela Hwang- Institute of Neurology

Angela founded the first epilepsy genomics project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, focusing on analysing the genomes of diverse groups of people with epilepsy. Angela’s research aims to compare the genetic architecture of epilepsy in African populations, particularly in resource-limited settings. Angela’s work has earned her the NIHR pre-doctoral fellowship in 2022 and is a testament to her remarkable drive and passion for improving healthcare.

6. Contribution to EDI in Innovation and Enterprise Award

This award recognises an individual or group who has significantly contributed to EDI using innovation and enterprise activities that led to an inclusive and equitable impact for students and/or staff at FBS and beyond.

Winner: Georgia Pavlopoulou, Irina Nedelcu, and Ruth Moyse- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences.

Georgia, Irina, and Ruth developed new training curricula to address the wellbeing of autistic people through enhanced access to mental health support and recovery plans. The program’s success in England and the South-East has led to a national roll-out funded by NHS England for all ages in various settings. It’s a remarkable and inclusive training module with key topics around neurodiversity and its impact on the workplace and post-graduate courses.

The EDI Celebration Awards 2023 event aimed to recognise individuals who are contributing to equality, equity, diversity, and inclusion at Faculty of Brain Sciences and beyond. The event celebrated the achievements of approximately 85 nominated individuals across the Faculty.

The awards ceremony began with an opening speech by Professor Anna Cox, who serves as the Vice Dean for EDI. Anna emphasised the significance of EDI in the learning and work environments and the importance of celebrating success as progress is made. Leadership plays a crucial role in achieving this success, leading to the presentation of the first award category, ‘Contribution to EDI in Leadership.’ The winner was Stefanie Anyadi, who has actively led a project to promote diversity and challenge implicit bias through their Caleidoscope project. Through their workshops and training methods, they have successfully shared their vision and inspired the wider UCL community and abroad at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Next, Dr Steven Bloch, the Vice Dean for Education, briefly spoke about the significance of inclusive practices in education and how they benefit the learning environment at UCL. He then presented the award for ‘Contribution to EDI in Education and Student Experience.’ The winner was the Institute of Neurology (IoN) EDI Action Group, including Tim Young, Tracy Skinner, Jessica Jiang, Benito Maffei, E’Jane (Yi Jie Li), Kangxin Chen Huang, and Mena Farag who have made significant contributions by conducting the IoN student survey on wellbeing, mental health, and career development, organising ‘Paths to PhD’ events, and providing Active Bystander training for students.

Professor Courtenay Norbury, the Vice Dean for Research, then recognised the work of researchers across the Faculty and specifically praised the establishment of the Centre for Equality Research in Brain Sciences. Courtenay then presented the award category ‘Contribution to EDI in Research.’ The winner of this category was Audrey Zhang for conducting a research project that explored the ‘Effects of Personal and Contextual Factors on Status and Belongingness of First-year Undergraduate Students.’

After the Contribution to EDI Research award, Professor Lasana Harris, who serves as the Vice Dean for International, proceeded to present the award for ‘Contribution to EDI in the International Community’. to celebrate the substantial contributions of EDI in the global scene at Brain Sciences. This category was awarded to Angela Hwang, who founded the first epilepsy genomics project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, focusing on analysing the genomes of diverse groups of people with epilepsy.

Dr Joseph Delvin, former Vice Dean for Innovation and Enterprise, presented the award category ‘Contribution to EDI in Innovation and Enterprise.’ He emphasised that innovation and enterprise are crucial in achieving the Faculty’s vision for solving brain science’s greatest health and wellbeing challenges. The category was won by Georgia Pavalopoulou, Irina Nedelcu, and Ruth Moyse, who led the development of the new training curricula to address the wellbeing of autistic people through enhanced access to mental health support and recovery plans as a part of a national rollout in England and the Southeast.

Lastly, Professor Alan Thompson, the Faculty Dean, announced the Dean’s Excellence in EDI award winner, Natalie Marchant. Natalie was recognized for her exceptional leadership and involvement in promoting EDI initiatives and practices in the Division of Psychiatry. She initiated various projects, including the Divisional In2Science internships, name-blind recruitment for research Grade 6b posts, and founded and led the Race Equity and Ethnic Diversity group.

Alan wrapped up the ceremony by recognising the astounding accomplishments in advancing EDI across the Faculty. He highlighted the achievements of five departments with Athena SWAN Silver awards and one with Bronze, as well as the key departmental staff that included Directors of EDI, Inclusion Leads, Athena SWAN Chairs, and EDI Professional Services staff within each department. Additionally, he acknowledged the EDI Faculty staff team, including the Vice Dean EDI, EDI manager and coordinator, 5 Equity Leads, Equality research centre director, and BAME awarding gap lead, who provides guidance and supervision to Faculty-level EDI work. Alan pointed out that there is still much work to be done within the Faculty to address inequalities related to protected characteristic groups and achieve the prestigious Athena SWAN Gold awards as a measure of excellence. However, the prioritized investment in resources and the commitment of individuals and teams throughout the Faculty indicate positive progress in the right direction.

The post-event gathering was heartwarming as people interacted over delicious food and drinks to celebrate the accomplishments of nominees, finalists, and winners. The Faculty takes pride in staff and students involved in EDI for their unwavering dedication to promoting EDI and upholding good practices. Keep up the exceptional work!

The inaugural Faculty of Brain Sciences (FBS) International Doctoral Student Engagement Funds (IDSEF) support FBS academics supervising doctoral students with collaborators based in other countries. Doctoral students are often the engines of research, facilitating international collaboration with their thesis projects. This fund supports such international collaboration at UCL. This year, the IDSEF supported three students:

Mateo Gende

Mateo Gende was born in Spain in 1995. He received his BSc. in Computer Engineering in 2018, and his MSc. in Bioinformatics in 2021 from the University of La Coruña, Spain, where he is currently pursuing the Ph.D. in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. Since 2018, he has been working as a researcher within the Centre for Research in Information and Communication Technologies (CITIC) in Spain. His main research interests include computer vision, medical image analysis, pattern recognition, and machine learning. His project will focus on longitudinal analysis of multimodal ophthalmic images through deep learning, and he will be supervised by Prof. Pearse Keane from the Institute of Opthamology.

Musambo Kapapa

Musambo Kapapa is an ICGNMD PhD Fellow and a highly qualified physiotherapist at University Teaching Hospital (UTH), Lusaka. Ms Kapapa has broad interests across NMDs and physiotherapy. Her PhD is titled: The development of an evidence-based genetic neuromuscular diseases management protocol for physiotherapists focused on physiotherapy practices, patients, and family experiences in Zambia. Her project will focus on developing physiotherapy clinical practice and clinical trial readiness for functional assessment for people living with genetic neuromuscular diseases in Zambia, and she will be supervised by Dr. Gita Ramdharry from the Institute of Neurology.

Mafalda Mascarenhas

Mafalda Mascarenhas is a PhD candidate in LiSP – Lisbon Doctoral Program in Social Psychology with a studentship from the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT). Her research aims to understand the sociopsychological factors that influence teachers’ recommendations for professional education (vs. scientific-humanistic high-school diplomas) for Black students, namely the role that behavior in the classroom and achievement have on those recommendations. Her project will focus on the impact of teachers’ perceptions of students’ agency on school paths, and she will be supervised by Prof. Lasana Harris from the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences.

Throughout the past academic year, staff across the Faculty of Brain Sciences have delivered numerous initiatives to address inequality and exclusionary cultures. Broadening and strengthening EDI across the Faculty is a result of passion and commitment at all levels, with a continuous aim for steady and sustainable progression of EDI work.  

The initiatives and work illustrated below provide a brief insight into the work being carried out across the Faculty over the 2021/22 academic year: 

Pioneering EDI Research: 

An EDI Research Centre and Hub is being established to bring researchers within the Faculty into one network, provide them with common resources and other facilitations and to encourage research into EDI related topics. The center will officially launch in September 2022. 

Supporting parents and carers: 

The Carers Fund was created to financially support staff with parental and caring responsibilities to attend meetings, conferences, workshops, and events outside normal working patterns. The fund which was established during the 2020/21 academic year has expanded the eligibility criteria by including academics, research assistants, teaching fellows, professional services, and technical staff and PhD and Professional Doctoral students within the Faculty of Brain Sciences. The fund aims to continue its efforts in tackling barriers to progression faced by those with caring responsibilities in the next academic year. 

Developing Intercultural Competence and Practice: 

To address issues of intercultural communication and engagement and those seeking to improve their communication skills – particularly with their international students – Anouchka Sterling (Faculty Religion and Belief Equity Lead) created and developed a series of workshops exploring issues of intercultural communication and inclusion, with Stephen James, a cross-cultural communications consultant. The workshops considered two primary needs: psychosocial safety, and intercultural competence and practice, then participants ended the session by making pledges to apply new skills to their roles and general working experience.  

Listening to our staff and students: 

‘The Experiences of Disabled and Neurodivergent Staff and Students at The Faculty of Brain Sciences’ Focus Group Report: Manjula Patrick (Faculty Disability Equity Lead) and Nick Anim conducted a research project through a series of online focus group sessions that aimed to examine how disabilities, visible and invisible, shape working and social experiences at the university, for both staff and students. The full report is available online. 

Ethnic Minority Experiences in Brain Sciences: Roopal Desai, Lasana Harris (Faculty Race Equity Lead 19/20-20/21), and Linda Ali Brown (Faculty Race Equity Lead 21/22) led a project that conducted focus groups with ethnic minority staff to better understand their experiences working in the Faculty. The report revealed common themes that affect ethnic minorities within the Faculty and provided recommendations on how to tackle these concerning issues. The full report is available online.  

Addressing the ethnic minority awarding gap: 

The Faculty has undertaken a number of projects to address the awarding gap between white and ethnic minority students. This included piloting ‘Teachly’, a digital teaching support system that aims to improve inclusivity in lectures and seminars by providing lecturers with feedback and advice on how to improve their interactions with students (project led by Vitor Zimmerer). ‘Decolonising the curriculum’ workshops will be held later in July, so teaching staff can go into the new academic year with a refreshed understanding of the main ideas of decolonisation and the latest debates in decolonising science.  If you like to attend ‘Decolonising the curriculum’ workshop, please email fbs.edi@ucl.ac.uk.

Effective leadership and governance of EDI: 

Directors of EDI and Inclusion Leads in each of our departments have been ensuring local engagement and progression of EDI initiatives. Highlights include the IoN publishing the first departmental EDI report, DoP leadership committing to a number of EDI pledges, and EDI hangouts in PaLS sparking conversations on how to improve our workplace culture. At Faculty-level, Equity Leads have championed their area of focus (disability, gender, LGBTQ+, race, religion and belief) working towards a comprehensive action plan to support intersectional EDI work.  EDI Professional Services based within departments across the Faculty are fundamental to driving forward the EDI work on the ground; Seema Duggal in DoP, Avili Feese in IoO, Ana De Sousa e Faro in IoN, and Beverley Isibor in IoPD, EI and PaLS. 

Innovative career development support for PS&T staff: 

The Faculty staff survey 2021 showed that Professional Services and Technical staff feel that they have insufficient career development opportunities. To address this, the Faculty have put a concerted effort into listening to and supporting PS&T staff. The FBS PS&T mentoring scheme successfully matched over 20 mentors and mentees with comprehensive training to ensure these mentoring relationships lead to tangible career development. The Faculty held its inaugural Professional Services and Technical Staff Away Day in June 2022, sparking numerous conversations about the various options for career development, and promoting the initiatives, networks and opportunities available. The momentum built throughout the day will carry through to the next academic year as we will build upon this year’s progress to develop further initiatives for these often overlooked staff groups. 

Athena SWAN success: 

The Institute of Prion Diseases successfully achieved a Bronze Athena SWAN Award, and the Division of Psychiatry have submitted their Silver application, joining PaLS, IoO and QSIoN in working towards their Silver action plan. Ear Institute has been working towards their Silver application and are expected to submit later this summer.  

Thank you to everyone for contributing towards culture change within the Faculty. We’re looking forward to continuing this work in the next academic year, with renewed vigour after the summer break. 

Many thanks, 

Anna Cox (Vice Dean, EDI) 

Ciara Wright (EDI Manager) 

Beverley Isibor (EDI Coordinator) 

UCL Inclusion Awards recognise work or contributions that individuals or teams make to progressing equality, diversity or inclusion practice within the institution. We’re delighted that a number of staff and students in the Faculty have been nominated for these awards.

Congratulations to all the nominees, listed below:

• Cassandra Hugill – UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences
• Prof Sushrut Jadhav – Faculty of Brain Sciences
• Dr Manjula Patrick – Faculty of Brain Sciences
• Rashmi Mathew and Christin Henein – UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Brain Sciences
• Scott Tytheridge and Ricky Kemp, UCL Ear Institute, Faculty of Brain Sciences
• Javier Sanchez Bautista, Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, Faculty of Brain Sciences
• Dr Soraya Dunn – Faculty of Brain Sciences
• Prof Helene Plun-Favreau and Dr Ana Faro – Faculty of Brain Sciences

The award winners will be announced at an in person ceremony on 13 July, from 5pm onwards. Good luck to all of the impressive and dedicated nominees!

Looking back at what we have achieved together over the past year, we have made significant progress advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion within the Faculty of Brain Sciences, particularly considering that we have been working through a global pandemic. The initiatives and work described below are merely the tip of the iceberg of the enormous amount of work that has gone to progressing our vision of Brain Sciences being a great place to work and study, where all members of our community belong and achieve their potential.

Supportive governance:

EDI Leadership: Equity Leads covering gender, race, disability, LGBT+, and religion and belief have spent the past year understanding their focused areas, and regularly collaborate to ensure our equity work is intersectional. Directors of EDI and Inclusion Leads within each Institute/Division have taken a proactive leadership role to ensure work conducted at Faculty/UCL-level is effectively implemented within their departments.

EDI Partnership: The EDI Team has worked in partnership with the Faculty HR Network to ensure our policies and practices are developed effectively in collaboration.

Inclusive culture:

Kitchen catch-up: For the past few months, colleagues across the Faculty have been meeting over a coffee for a 15 minute catch-up. One member of staff said: “I really enjoyed meeting my match (and in fact we are hoping to meet up in person when we are on campus a bit more regularly); it’s a great initiative to meet someone I would most probably never have met otherwise”.

Carers support scheme: With schools and offices closed, many of us have experienced immense difficulty trying to maintain normal, healthy working habits. To mitigate the impacts for staff with caring responsibilities, UCL set up a carers fund. However, we recognised that between the high costs of childcare, and high demands of completing a PhD or Professional Doctorate, continuing working during COVID-19 has been particularly challenging for our PGR students. To support them through this difficult time, the Faculty of Brain Sciences allocated £7,500 towards alleviating the pressures of caring responsibilities. 11 applications were successfully granted funding towards childcare costs, learning resources and travel costs to caring duties. One PhD student said of the scheme, “I am grateful for the help FBS has offered – both financial and pastoral – during this challenging period.”

LGBTQ+ network: our LGBTQ+ Equity Lead, Carolyn McGettigan, established the Faculty’s LGBTQ+ staff and research student network, opening the conversation on key areas to progress inclusion, from raising visibility of our LGBTQ+ community, hosting social events, organising training and workshops.

Educated community:

Race equity: Our staff have a serious interest in learning more about equality issues. Through a series of training workshops on racial bias, 228 members of staff have engaged in discussing topics such as whiteness and white fragility and debunked myths on the concepts of race. One attendee said of the training: “A really engaging thought-provoking session. I liked that we unpacked so much and there were honest but kind and respectful conversations.”

Cultural awareness: Workshops on intercultural competence later this July aim to improve communication and understanding between our staff, to enable cohesion and collaboration between our diverse staff groups.

PS&T mentoring scheme: the Faculty relaunched the professional services and technical staff mentoring scheme, to support staff with unclear career pipelines. 40 staff were successfully matched, and professionally trained in mentoring by an external mentoring consultant.

Data-driven actions:

Surveys and focus groups conducted throughout the year have covered issues such as career progression, recruitment practices, and bullying and harassment, so that our EDI strategies and priorities are well-informed and meet the needs of our staff and students. 880 staff in the Faculty completed the general staff survey, providing us with a meaningful dataset to guide our actions for the next academic year.

Athena SWAN success:

Three of our departments, IoN, IoO and PaLS, have now successfully achieved Silver Athena SWAN awards, recognising their significant impact in advancing gender equity. IoPD submitted their application for Bronze, setting them on the path to progress meaningful change. We hope to continue this successful streak when EI and DoP apply in the next academic year.

Thank you to everyone for contributing towards driving change within the Faculty. We’re looking forward to making further progress in the next academic year.

Anna, Vice Dean (EDI)

Ciara, Athena SWAN Coordinator