Our aim is to support a diverse and inclusive research environment to help achieve our vision of a world without the fear of heart and circulatory disease. We will soon begin seeking further diversity information from the research community to understand how we can move towards becoming a more inclusive research funder.

To ensure that we fund the most talented researchers to save and improve lives affected by cardiovascular disease, we need to fund the best and brightest from the widest possible pool of talent. It’s essential.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy make a changeLaunched in 2022, the BHF outlined a clear commitment to addressing inequalities within the research ecosystem and ensuring the BHF plays a role in creating a diverse and inclusive research environment.

Since April 2020, we have been collecting information about legally protected characteristics such as age, disability, ethnicity and gender of researchers applying for funding.

These data form an anonymised and confidential statistical record, allowing us to perform further analysis and compare with sector-wide information. An aggregate analysis of these data was published in July 2023. Our first research funding diversity report. This report has provided valuable insights that will help shape future actions to address underrepresentation in the research community.

However, we recognize the limitations of current data collection. Under-representation or inequalities in other legally protected characteristics are known to exist in the UK’s science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) sectors.

• Gender reassignment and sexual orientation:England report Research on the experiences of LGBTQ+ people in STEM shows that LGBTQ+ researchers consider leaving their jobs due to discrimination against them.And one more thing Explain the barriers LGBTQ+ people face challenges in the research funding process. However, despite evidence that the LGBTQ+ community is keen to collect such data, we investigated how the operation of the UK’s funding system affects LGBTQ+ scientists. No detailed data available.

• religious beliefs: Perceptions of religious discrimination among scientists have also been reported in the UK, but a lack of data collected by funders makes it difficult to investigate further.a Report published in 2018 Research by the Equality Challenge Unit reveals that there is patchy data collection regarding religious beliefs, although individuals are generally comfortable sharing such information.

Other personal characteristics are also associated with inequality and undervaluation.

• Balancing work and work caring responsibility Although it is recognized as a challenge faced by many employees, especially women, Including STEMM careers. BHF seeks to understand how caring responsibilities (of all kinds) impact representation and inclusion in the cardiovascular research community.

• socio-economic background: The current state of the talent pipeline in the UK is that 12% of STEM undergraduates and 7% of STEM research students are from the most disadvantaged quintile in terms of socio-economic background; Few analyzes are available. The influence of socio-economic background on obtaining research funding.

Therefore, from March 2024, researchers applying for funding will be asked to answer new questions about these characteristics in order to create an anonymised and confidential statistical record. When designing questions to help collect this information, we follow best practice guidelines across the sector (DAISY guidance, Advance HE, ONS Census).

We note that some of these questions may be considered intrusive. Therefore, researchers can always choose “better not say” to these questions. However, the more information you share, the better we can assess the comprehensiveness of how research funding is determined and identify underrepresentation across different groups. This allows us to focus on barriers and plan targeted interventions to remove them, resulting in a more representative and inclusive heart and circulatory disease research community.

For more information on upcoming changes, please visit Check out our FAQ Or contact us by email below [email protected].

Information for researchers