Dr Ashok Menon is the new FutureCat Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Champion.

He explains why he took on the EDI Champion role “After being in research for almost 5 years, I felt it was only fair that I try to give back to the research community. Being involved in the EDI activities with FutureCat was a meaningful way to get started. I hope to contribute, take part and learn from the EDI activities happening across the Faraday Institution and bring those learnings to the FutureCat community.”

As EDI Champion, Ashok’s role will be

1. Champion and model EDI best practice within the project
2. Gather ideas and creative ways of furthering the EDI work of the Faraday Institution
3. To be the point of contact between Faraday Institution and the FutureCat project on EDI activities.
4. To act as a sounding board, facilitator and actioner in relation to the wider Faraday Institution EDI agenda

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within the FutureCat Consortium

As part of the Faraday Institution research community, we are part of an inclusive and diverse research community, promoting the Faraday Institution code of conduct, and supporting the Equality Diversity and Inclusion Charter, which has been endorsed by the Faraday Institution Equality and Diversity Working Group.

The strong gender equality within FutureCat is reflected in the strength of its female members with them making up 38%, 27% and 46% of Co-Is/WP leaders, PDRAs and PhD researchers, respectively.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within the Faraday Institution research community

Faraday Institution has initiated two training programmes: Empower (a 6-month programme designed for women researchers to help them in their careers involving 4 sessions and 1 to 1 coaching) and, THRIVE (Positive action career development programme for Black, Asian and ethnic minority individuals). 

Additionally, both FutureCat and the Faraday Institution supports all postdoctoral and PhD researchers and other members of the consortium in their professional development and promotes a sense of belonging through regular events and meetings. The  inclusive meetings policy can be found by clicking on the blue button below.

Our academic partners also provide support and resources to build an equal, inclusive, and diverse community and their Equality Diversity and Inclusion web pages can be found under their logos on this page. 

We’ve also included a link to the Women into Science and Engineering (WISE) Research and Statistics pages.