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Inclusion and diversity in our prizes

We want to recognise excellent science, whoever is behind it, and ensure everyone is included, whatever their background or role.

Following the publication of an independent review of our recognition programmes, Re-thinking recognition: Science prizes for the modern world, we are taking steps to make our prize portfolio more reflective of our community and the ways in which they contribute to science by:

• evolving our prize portfolio to put greater emphasis on teams and collaborations, educators, and those who are in earlier stages of their career
• expanding our definition of scientific excellence
• working with the scientific community to expand the pool of people, teams and collaborations nominated for our prizes
• continuing to review our approach to eponymous prizes

Since 2015 we have published annual statistics relating to diversity in our prize programme. Download diversity data for our 2022 prizes.

Inclusion & diversity in the chemical sciences

As a professional and membership body, and a leading voice for the chemistry community, we have a responsibility to ensure that chemistry is for everyone.

Our Inclusion and Diversity Strategy to 2025 is pushing us further than before to increase the diversity of people choosing the chemical sciences and fulfilling their potential for a truly inclusive community. This will – in time – be reflected in the diversity of our prize programme.

• Our recent report Missing Elements: Racial and ethnic inequalities in the chemical sciences paints a stark picture of the realities experienced by those who are Black or minority ethnic in chemistry and sets out our commitments, including:
  • Creating a dedicated Race & Ethnicity Unit, funded by an initial £1.5 million investment to lead systemic change
  • Partnering with chemical industry employers to create a pilot programme Broadening Horizons in the Chemical Sciences, providing Black and minority ethnic undergraduates, postgraduates, and recent graduates with access to career routes in industry, innovation and entrepreneurship
  • Launching a five-year mentoring scheme for Y12 Black and minority ethnic chemistry students, in partnership with the Windsor Fellowship and supported by the Chemists' Community Fund
  • Proactively increasing representation in our governance, committees and editorial boards
  • Engaging with our community and partners to listen to, share and learn from lived experiences, and continually challenging ourselves to do more
• In 2021 we released our report A sense of belonging in the chemical sciences – the first ever study of chemical scientists' lived experiences of belonging
• Breaking the barriers – Our 2018 report gave us new insights into the barriers women face in the chemical sciences
• Framework for action in scientific publishing – Our framework for action maps out the steps we will take to minimise bias in publishing processes
• In 2019 we released a report called Exploring the workplace for LGBT+ physical scientists
• In 2020 we released the LGBT+ toolkit – resources for everyone to take part in positive change: employers and managers, colleagues and allies, and LGBT+ individuals
• Bullying & harassment support service – In 2019 we launched a support service for anyone affected or concerned by bullying or harassing behaviour in the chemical sciences.
• In 2020 we published our first RSC-wide diversity data report, which covers aspects of diversity across the breadth of RSC activities