Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is the practice of ensuring fair treatment for all. At UKERC, we aim to foster an inclusive culture that values diversity and maintains a working and social environment in which the rights and dignity of our staff, researchers, students, partners and stakeholders are respected. As an interdisciplinary research consortium, we are committed to involving diverse groups in the conversation around our future energy system.
The sections below outline our EDI policies and key contacts. It is important to note that, as we are a consortium, we cannot enforce policies regarding training or recruitment at our participating institutions. However, we fully expect our partners to have undertaken diversity training, particularly in unconscious bias (and allyship if available), and to ensure that recruitment panels are diverse.
We are also committed to providing opportunities that advance diversity in energy. Upcoming activities include the delivery of an inclusive writing retreat in autumn 2026 (find out about a previous writing retreat here) and the delivery of our Whole Systems Networking Fund.
These documents lay out our approach to EDI within the consortium. It has been approved by UKERC’s Co-Directors and UKRI. It will be reviewed annually by our Deputy Director for EDI, Professor Caroline Kuzemko, and the EDI Committee.
The Plan is therefore a ‘living document’ and we invite the wider community, particularly underrepresented groups, to provide feedback. We will consider all comments received. Please contact Jessica Bays with any suggestions.
Our EDI Goals represents a mix of pre-existing goals and goals that have been added following the writing of the EDI Plan and our Mid-term Review Action Plan, as well as on suggestion from members of the EDI SubCo to date.
You can access UKERC’s EDI Plan & 24/25 Goals here, and the 2026 Goals here.
You can access UKERC’s Speaker Policy which includes guidance for speakers here: Speaker Policy and Guidance.
We are keen to ensure that UKERC outputs are as open as possible and do not exclude based on the format or language used. We have therefore compiled a list of resources that can be used to help in the development of activities and outputs:
Inclusive language resources:
Accessible events guidance:
UKERC’s EDI activities are managed by our Operations Manager, Jessica Bays.
Dr Caroline Kuzemko is the Deputy Director for EDI and in this capacity she champions UKERC’s EDI work, holds the leadership team to account for progress with EDI goals, and also chairs the EDI Committee.
Members of the committee are:
Our complaints process is outlined in the EDI Plan under ‘Bullying and Harassment’. Complaints must be made via host institutional processes, but where the complaint arises from UKERC activities, please contact the Co-Director at the relevant institution for support. In their absence, or if they are involved, UKERC’s Director Rob Gross and Operations Manager Jessica Bays will ensure appropriate support.