Skip to content
Conference

Annual Diversity Conference 2017

  • 16 November 2017, 10:00 - 17:00
  • Free
Add to Calendar 11/16/17 10:00 AM 11/16/17 05:00 PM United Kingdom (GMT) Annual Diversity Conference 2017 The Royal Society, London, SW1Y 5AG
Book event
Back to events
Jump to
Overview Programme

Event Highlights

Watch the Video

One-day conference celebrating diversity in science

Overview

This year, the Society’s Annual Diversity Conference will explore ways to remove barriers to participation in STEMM education.

Sir Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society, gave a welcome address at the conference, in which he urged greater efforts to identify barriers to inclusivity and to breaking down those barriers. Full speech is available here.

For all enquiries, please contact diversity@royalsociety.org


Delegates at the 2015 Diversity Conference
Delegates at the previous Diversity Conference.

Schedule

10:00-10:30
Registration and refreshments
10:30-10:40
Welcome address by Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society

Chair

Dr Julie Maxton CBE, Executive Director, The Royal Society

Dr Julie Maxton CBE, Executive Director, The Royal Society

Dr Julie Maxton CBE is the Executive Director of the Royal Society, the first woman in 350 years to hold the post. Before taking up her position at the Royal Society in 2011 Julie was Registrar at the University of Oxford, the first woman in 550 years in the role.

She is an Honorary Fellow of University College Oxford, a Bencher of the Middle Temple, a Freeman of the Goldsmith’s Company, and a Board member of Engineering UK, the Charities Aid Foundation, Haberdasher Aske’s School and of the International Advisory Board of the Blavatnik School of Governance at Oxford University.

Originally trained as a barrister at the Middle Temple, Julie combined a career as a practising lawyer with that of an academic, holding a number of senior academic positions, including those of Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She is the author of numerous articles concerned with trusts, equity, commercial and property law.

10:40-11:25
Keynote session
Sarah Jane Leslie

Speakers

Professor Sarah-Jane Leslie, Princeton University

Professor Sarah-Jane Leslie, Princeton University

Sarah-Jane Leslie is the Class of 1943 Professor of Philosophy, Vice Dean for Faculty Development, Director of the Program in Linguistics, and Founding Director of the Program in Cognitive Science at Princeton University. Much of her academic work focuses on how we categorize and generalize information about the world around us. As part of this project, she examines how the language young children hear shapes their perception of social groups, and how this relates to stereotyping and prejudice. Most recently, she has been examining gender gaps in educational and career choices, and her work on the topic was named as one of 2015’s most interesting scientific findings by Edge. Leslie is the recipient of multiple grants, including from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. In 2015, she delivered the Gareth Evans Memorial Lecture at Oxford University, and won the Stanton Prize from the Society for Philosophy and Psychology. Her work has been covered extensively in the media, including by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. She has appeared on NBC, NPR, WHYY, CBC Radio, and Science Friday. 

11:25-11:45
Break
11:45-13:10
Discussion session A
2 talks

Chair

Professor Saiful Islam, University of Bath, UK

Professor Saiful Islam, University of Bath, UK

Saiful Islam is Professor of Materials Chemistry at the University of Bath and recipient of the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit award. He grew up in Crouch End, north London and obtained his Chemistry degree and PhD from University College London, followed by a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Eastman Kodak Labs in New York, USA. He returned to the UK to the University of Surrey, before joining the University of Bath in 2006. His research covers materials modelling for clean energy applications focusing on lithium batteries and perovskite solar cells. He has presented over 65 invited conference talks, and was awarded the Peter Day Award for Materials Chemistry (2017) of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Saiful served on Diversity Committee of the Royal Society, and is a Patron of Humanists UK. He presented the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in 2016 for BBC TV on the theme of energy. Outside interests include family breaks, football, indie music (The Smiths et al) and the chemicals gin and tonic.


Chair

Professor Jane Clarke FMedSci FRS

Professor Jane Clarke FMedSci FRS

Jane Clarke is Professor of Molecular Biophysics in the Chemistry Department of the University of Cambridge. Her research is multidisciplinary, combining single molecule and ensemble biophysical techniques with protein engineering and simulations to investigate protein folding, misfolding and assembly. Her small research team includes chemists, biochemists and physicists.

Jane Clarke’s career is somewhat unusual.  After several years teaching science in comprehensive schools she started a PhD at the age of 40 with Professor Sir Alan Fersht in Cambridge. After a postdoctoral fellowship in protein NMR spectroscopy at the MRC Centre for Protein Engineering in Cambridge, she won a Welcome Trust Career Development Fellowship and joined Cambridge University in 1997.

In her role as Deputy Head of the Chemistry Department in Cambridge, Professor Clarke became involved in mentoring, career development and leadership training for scientists at all stages in their careers. She is particularly interested to support women to stay in science. As a mother and grandmother she knows that it is possible to combine family life with a successful career.

Group 1

Speakers

Alice Pinney

Alice Pinney

Alice is a member of Girlguiding’s national youth panel, Advocate. Advocate is a group of 18 Girlguiding members aged 14 to 25 who influence the direction of the charity’s research and advocacy, and seek change to improve all girls’ lives. They are a leading example of how girls and young women can speak out and be heard at the highest levels.

Grahame Price

Grahame Price

Grahame Price is CEO of the recently formed University Schools Trust (UST). Grahame is also Executive Headteacher of St Paul's Way Trust School (SPWT), the lead school in the UST. Grahame has led SPWT since 2009 and during this time the school has built an excellent reputation for STEM learning. Professor Brian Cox is Patron of SPWT and has hosted their renowned Science Summer School since 2012. 

SPWT has an outstanding track record of supporting its learners into Higher Education. This year 96% of Year 13 students went to University, two thirds to study STEM related subjects and 60% to study at Russell Group Universities. Around 70% of students at SPWT receive Free School Meals (FSM), 90% are of Black and Minority Ethnicity (BME).

Katherine Sparkes

Katherine Sparkes

Katherine Sparkes is a global entrepreneur and charity changemaker. Katherine founded Flamingo Creative, a corporate responsibility consultancy which helps businesses function ethically and responsibly as well as providing management consultancy services to the third sector. Her work includes acting as CEO for a variety of charities – including the Lightyear Foundation where she’s launched science labs across Ghana as well as starting up the Sensory Science programme breaking down barriers to disabled children to participate in STEM.

Katherine has worked with global corporations such as KPMG, Accenture and Credit Suisse, as well as with the British government, where she is a regular speaker at the Cabinet Office.

Katherine also founded and runs two international not-for-profit organizations; Styleability, providing adapted fashion for young disabled adults, boosting confidence and enhancing independence plus inclusive ballet school Flamingo Chicks; where disabled children can access dance alongside friends. Katherine has won numerous awards for her contribution to the global community including JCI’s Ten Young Outstanding Young Persons of the World Award, a Point Of Light Award from the British Prime Minister and most recently was ranked on the Independent’s Happy List for people who improve the lives of others.

Group 2

Speakers

Rosamund McNeil

Rosamund McNeil

Rosamund McNeil is the Head of Education and Equalities for the National Union of Teachers. The NUT represents teachers and school leaders in all phases of education in England and Wales and has over 300,000 teachers in membership.

Rosamund is a qualified solicitor and worked in commercial practice before joining the National Union of Teachers team.

Previously to holding this post, Rosamund was the policy lead for the National Union of Teachers for ten years in the area of equalities and the curriculum and SEN policy.

Rosamund lives in North London and is the mother of one toddler.

Lindsey Joy

Lindsey Joy

Lindsey Joy’s role at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership is Enterprise Co-ordinator – this involves bridging the gap between education and the world of work by bringing together key figures from business and senior leaders from education to work together on careers strategy. Lindsey is also committed to coordinating the Fuller Working Lives strategy for the region which aims to support businesses retain; retrain and regain workers aged 50+.  The North East LEP has successfully piloted the Gatsby Foundation’s Good Career Guidance Benchmarks – which aim to ensure that each and every young person has access to quality careers guidance.  Lindsey has significant experience in the third sector, and her background in teaching equips her for working successfully with the region’s schools and colleges.

Kevin Coutinho

Kevin Coutinho

Kevin was appointed as the Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Windsor Fellowship in 2012. He is a Group 11 Graduate Windsor Fellow, sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and was previously the Director of Higher Education and Employment Programmes at the Windsor Fellowship.

Kevin joined the University of Oxford as Head of Equality and Diversity in 2017. He is also the Vice-Chair of the Higher Education Race Action Group (HERAG), a sector wide body that promotes race equality, and an Athena SWAN panellist. Between 2008 and 2016 he was an Equality and Diversity Consultant at the University of Cambridge and was a HR Strategy and Policy Partner at Birkbeck, University of London between 2016 and 2017.

Francesca Borgonovi

Francesca Borgonovi

Francesca Borgonovi is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Directorate for Education and Skills at the OECD where she has been responsible for data analysis and analytical work in the PISA and the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), with a particular focus on gender and socio-economic disparities in academic achievement student engagement and motivation and on the outcomes of migrant and language minority students. Her recent publications include The ABC of Gender Equality in Education: Aptitude, Behaviour, Confidence and Immigrant Students at School - Easing the Journey Towards Integration. Before joining the OECD Francesca was based in the Department of Social Policy and in the Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she was actively involved in the development of theoretical and empirical research on poverty alleviation, redistribution, health, disability, and family policies. Francesca has been Adjunct Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs at SciencesPo (Paris) and held visiting positions at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley and the London School of Economics. Francesca holds a PhD from the London School of Economics.

13:10-14:00
Lunch and networking
14:00-15:25
Discussion session B
2 talks

Chair

Professor Robin Perutz FRS

Professor Robin Perutz FRS

Robin Perutz conducts research in the fields of inorganic chemistry, photochemistry and catalysis. Techniques devised by Robin have changed our views on the interactions of metals with small molecules. By providing understanding of chemical reactivities, they have enabled chemists to take a fresh approach to fundamental reactions and many industrial processes.

Using time-resolved spectroscopy, matrix isolation and product analysis, Robin showed that transition metals can bind to weak ligands such as alkanes and noble gases. He studied the photochemistry of metal hydrides and revealed pathways for carbon–hydrogen bond activation — a reaction in which the bond between carbon and hydrogen is cleaved and replaced by a bond to another type of atom.

Robin’s research on photochemistry is contributing to the great potential of solar fuels, which convert solar energy to chemical energy, as an energy source of the future. He has received a number of awards for his work, including the 2005 Nyholm Prize for Inorganic Chemistry. Notably, Robin is the son of Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist, Max Perutz, himself elected FRS in 1954.



Chair

Professor Bernard Silverman FRS

Professor Bernard Silverman FRS

Bernard Silverman is a statistician whose research has ranged widely across theoretical and practical aspects of statistics.  He has taken a particular interest in the ways that computing power has changed our ability to collect and analyse data.  He has collaborated in many scientific fields and with various areas of industry and government.  Following academic posts at Bath, Bristol and Oxford, he was Chief Scientific Adviser to the Home Office from 2010 to 2017.  A former President of the Royal Statistical Society, his main current research interest is in Modern Slavery. He has had a keen interest in diversity issues throughout his career, for example as chair of the UK Mathematics Trust, and member of the Home Office’s Race Board and of the Royal Society’s Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships and Diversity committees.

Group 1

Speakers

Rosamund McNeil

Rosamund McNeil

Rosamund McNeil is the Head of Education and Equalities for the National Union of Teachers. The NUT represents teachers and school leaders in all phases of education in England and Wales and has over 300,000 teachers in membership.

Rosamund is a qualified solicitor and worked in commercial practice before joining the National Union of Teachers team.

Previously to holding this post, Rosamund was the policy lead for the National Union of Teachers for ten years in the area of equalities and the curriculum and SEN policy.

Rosamund lives in North London and is the mother of one toddler.

Lindsey Joy

Lindsey Joy

Lindsey Joy’s role at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership is Enterprise Co-ordinator – this involves bridging the gap between education and the world of work by bringing together key figures from business and senior leaders from education to work together on careers strategy. Lindsey is also committed to coordinating the Fuller Working Lives strategy for the region which aims to support businesses retain; retrain and regain workers aged 50+.  The North East LEP has successfully piloted the Gatsby Foundation’s Good Career Guidance Benchmarks – which aim to ensure that each and every young person has access to quality careers guidance.  Lindsey has significant experience in the third sector, and her background in teaching equips her for working successfully with the region’s schools and colleges.

Kevin Coutinho

Kevin Coutinho

Kevin was appointed as the Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Windsor Fellowship in 2012. He is a Group 11 Graduate Windsor Fellow, sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and was previously the Director of Higher Education and Employment Programmes at the Windsor Fellowship.

Kevin joined the University of Oxford as Head of Equality and Diversity in 2017. He is also the Vice-Chair of the Higher Education Race Action Group (HERAG), a sector wide body that promotes race equality, and an Athena SWAN panellist. Between 2008 and 2016 he was an Equality and Diversity Consultant at the University of Cambridge and was a HR Strategy and Policy Partner at Birkbeck, University of London between 2016 and 2017.

Francesca Borgonovi

Francesca Borgonovi

Francesca Borgonovi is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Directorate for Education and Skills at the OECD where she has been responsible for data analysis and analytical work in the PISA and the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), with a particular focus on gender and socio-economic disparities in academic achievement student engagement and motivation and on the outcomes of migrant and language minority students. Her recent publications include The ABC of Gender Equality in Education: Aptitude, Behaviour, Confidence and Immigrant Students at School - Easing the Journey Towards Integration. Before joining the OECD Francesca was based in the Department of Social Policy and in the Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she was actively involved in the development of theoretical and empirical research on poverty alleviation, redistribution, health, disability, and family policies. Francesca has been Adjunct Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs at SciencesPo (Paris) and held visiting positions at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley and the London School of Economics. Francesca holds a PhD from the London School of Economics.

Group 2

Speakers

Alice Pinney

Alice Pinney

Alice is a member of Girlguiding’s national youth panel, Advocate. Advocate is a group of 18 Girlguiding members aged 14 to 25 who influence the direction of the charity’s research and advocacy, and seek change to improve all girls’ lives. They are a leading example of how girls and young women can speak out and be heard at the highest levels.

Grahame Price

Grahame Price

Grahame Price is CEO of the recently formed University Schools Trust (UST). Grahame is also Executive Headteacher of St Paul's Way Trust School (SPWT), the lead school in the UST. Grahame has led SPWT since 2009 and during this time the school has built an excellent reputation for STEM learning. Professor Brian Cox is Patron of SPWT and has hosted their renowned Science Summer School since 2012. 

SPWT has an outstanding track record of supporting its learners into Higher Education. This year 96% of Year 13 students went to University, two thirds to study STEM related subjects and 60% to study at Russell Group Universities. Around 70% of students at SPWT receive Free School Meals (FSM), 90% are of Black and Minority Ethnicity (BME).

Katherine Sparkes

Katherine Sparkes

Katherine Sparkes is a global entrepreneur and charity changemaker. Katherine founded Flamingo Creative, a corporate responsibility consultancy which helps businesses function ethically and responsibly as well as providing management consultancy services to the third sector. Her work includes acting as CEO for a variety of charities – including the Lightyear Foundation where she’s launched science labs across Ghana as well as starting up the Sensory Science programme breaking down barriers to disabled children to participate in STEM.

Katherine has worked with global corporations such as KPMG, Accenture and Credit Suisse, as well as with the British government, where she is a regular speaker at the Cabinet Office.

Katherine also founded and runs two international not-for-profit organizations; Styleability, providing adapted fashion for young disabled adults, boosting confidence and enhancing independence plus inclusive ballet school Flamingo Chicks; where disabled children can access dance alongside friends. Katherine has won numerous awards for her contribution to the global community including JCI’s Ten Young Outstanding Young Persons of the World Award, a Point Of Light Award from the British Prime Minister and most recently was ranked on the Independent’s Happy List for people who improve the lives of others.

15:25-15:45
Break
15:45-16:00
Winners of the Royal Society Athena Prize -The London Mathematical Society

Chair

Dr Eugenie Hunsicker

Dr Eugenie Hunsicker

Dr Eugenie Hunsicker is the chair of the Women in Mathematics Committee of the London Mathematical Society, which was awarded the Royal Society’s inaugural Athena Award for Diversity in 2016.  The Women in Mathematics Committee was formed in 1999 to improve the experience and increase the participation of women in the UK mathematics community.  It sponsors annual Women in Mathematics and Girls in Mathematics Days, awards grants and fellowships to support mathematicians with family or caring responsibilities, hosts the annual Mary Cartwright Lecture to highlight the work of prominent women mathematicians, and undertakes regular data collection and evaluation to monitor the participation of women in mathematics from the undergraduate level up.  Dr Hunsicker has been involved in diversity work in STEMM since her undergraduate days.  She is a Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at Loughborough University.

16:00-16:05
Closing remarks by Professor Uta Frith DBE FBA FMedSci FRS

Chair

Professor Uta Frith DBE FBA FMedSci FRS, UCL, UK

Professor Uta Frith DBE FBA FMedSci FRS, UCL, UK

Uta Frith is Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Development at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. As MRC Scientist from 1968 to 2006 she carried out research on neurodevelopmental disorders, with the aim to understand the links between mind, brain and behaviour in autism and dyslexia. She has a special interest in science communication and public engagement. This has resulted in TV documentaries about her work for BBC Horizon and in a graphic non-fiction book. Together with her husband, Chris Frith, she is writing a book entitled What makes us social. Uta was chair of the Royal Society’s Diversity Committee from 2015–2018. She has raised awareness of the value of diversity in making group decisions and has produced guidelines and visual materials to explain and combat unconscious bias.

16:05-17:00
Networking drinks reception