Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity.dtp The Sustainable Hydrogen Centre for Doctoral Training promotes an environment embracing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).

We aim to recruit a student community reflecting UK diversity; including as to gender parity, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, disability, neurodiversity and socio-economic backgrounds.

EG: The current CDT student body (Cohorts 1-5) has 33% of students identifying as female and 41% as from an ethnic minority community (figures at Oct. 2023).

Our values - why diversity matters

Diverse teams are more successful which is why Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) are at the heart of our operation. It's been proven that companies with:

a diverse workforce are more productive
diverse boards are more profitable.

Our programme aims to train the next generation of energy leaders so that we can meet the net-zero global challenge and this can only be done successfully if these innovation teams are informed by diverse perspectives.

Our environment - an opportunity to thrive

Creating an environment free from discrimination, which celebrates and values diversity, is fundamental to achieving our goals. We're committed to ensuring each person, regardless of background, has the opportunity to give their best and fulfill their true potential.

How we're achieving this
Communicating	Responding	Coordinating
Student EDI Forum and EDI Student Representatives at Management Board meetings, give students direct influence on CDT EDI policy and opportunities to deal with issues. Actively spread awareness of EDI issues via monthly CDT Newsletter.	The ‘Buddy Scheme’, an idea from CDT student Mickella Dawkins, matches current with new students, to ease stresses over beginning a PhD. We've taken disabilities advice, ensuring student support plans for people with disabilities are adopted by all 4 CDT partner universities.	Our EDI Access Fund financially assists students if they have disability, mobility or domestic (child care) needs, which might otherwise prevent participation in activities. The Fund aids with expenses for student EDI activities, e.g: support for student activities including June 2022 LGBQT+ Researchers’ Seminar, University of Birmingham, and student attendance on online ‘Effective Mentoring’ course.

Our Centre - what we are doing

We recruit amazing individuals from a diverse talent pool who contribute to the success of our centre in undertaking world-leading research.

Recruitment

We worked with Diversity by Design to establish our Recruitment of Diverse Teams Strategy. The recruitment process is designed to give all applicants the opportunity to show they can join a team to help undertake excellent research and want to make a contribution to the CDT, helping to enrich the experience of all in the CDT.

Training and support

The Centre's EDI training framework is for everyone, students to supervisors; supporting students, early career academics and those returning from a career break

Active Support

Women in hydrogen - our female staff and students