Diversity in Research Podcast

In this chat we talk to Daniel Spichtinger from Austria on the topic of open science, why the EU Commission felt a need to develop a strategy for international research collaboration,  what happened to "open to the world, how to understand " and what is "open strategic autonomy". We discuss the role of science diplomacy in an increasingly complex international world, and of course how minorities should navigate all this when talking about "values".                                                                                                                                                                                         
Since the podcast was recorded the EU has published a toolkit on how to mitigate foreign interference in research and innovation - this really is a fast-moving space! You can see the toolkit here:  https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/commission-publishes-toolkit-help-mitigate-foreign-interference-research-and-innovation-2022-jan-18_en

You can contact Daniel on Twitter (@danielsp) or via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dspichtinger/

We are taking a short break from podcasts as we do some planning and preparation for the year ahead but we will be back. Make sure you rate and review the podcast and follow us on Twitter @divrespod. If you'd like to know more about the work we do check out our website: www.diversinunity.com 

Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.

On the one side, social media is increasingly considered a part of societal and research impact in academia and it is a chance for us all to get in contact with like-minded people we would otherwise never interact with.

On the other side, we know that minority groups are increasingly targets of harassment and attacks on social media and that there are risks to using social media metrics as a measure of success and impact.

To explore these issues we had a fascinating chat with Mark Carrigan about social media in academia. He has recently released the second edition of his book on the topic.

We talked about the role of social media in academia, what the more nuanced take on social media in his second edition of the book looks like, why he took a break from Twitter (and why he is back) and finally we talk about the particular challenges of academics with a minority background on social media.  We think that the concept of ' context collapse' was really interesting and will use that in the future.

We discuss how to get smarter on the challenges of social media in academia and how pushing minority academics to be on social media requires line managers, research managers and administrators to have in-depth knowledge of the consequences.

Learn more:
Mark's latest paper can be found here.  And you can check out his book here.

You can follow Mark on Twitter at @DrMarkCarrigan

Thanks for listening. Do please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research please visit www.diversiunity.com. 

Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.

Northumbria University is currently working through the process to achieve the Race Equality Charter (https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/equality-charters/race-equality-charter). We talk to Professor Tom Lawson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and historian about the approach Northumbria is taking, why achieving the charter is important to them and how it fits into the bigger diversity and inclusion picture.

We have a really interesting conversation about listening and why that is key to making changes and improvements while recognising that the journey isn't complete when the charter is achieved. The work done as part of the process is more important than the charter itself.

Changing cultures in Higher Education, making them more inclusive and giving everyone equal opportunity is incredibly important to make sure that research is effective and international research collaborations thrive.

Do follow us on Twitter: @divrespod
For more information on the work we do please visit: www.diversiunity.com

Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.

Oh, to be in the mind of a research funder! How do they think? How do they work? What is that secret to get that grant?

The secret of course is that there is no secret, but in this episode we can share with you a little about what global public research funders think about equality, diversity and inclusion in research.

We talk to Roshni Abedin (UK) and Ana Maria Fonseca de Almeida (Brazil). They are both part of the Gender Working Group under Global Research Council. Global Research Council is a virtual organisation promoting communication and collaboration among science funding agencies around the world.

So learn more about how they collaborate, what to expect on the diversity agenda, and how funders think about the science ecosystem.

Learn more:
To learn more about Global Research Council at this link that will guide you directly to their Gender Working Group. There you can also find the groups publications that were mentioned in the conversation:
www.globalresearchcouncil.org/about/gender-working-group/

You can follow Global research Council on Twitter: @grc_research


Thanks for listening. Do please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research please visit www.diversiunity.com. 

Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.

The lyrics from a famous Danish aid song from the 1980s at some point says "Africa, the country that every child knows". And unfortunately, that still sums it up today.

Even though we know it is a continent and not a country, we too often think about it as one - to the extent, we think that much about Africa in the context of research at all (South Africa being the exception).

So we decided we needed to learn more; more about collaborations, funding, culture and so many other things about how research is developing in Africa.

Luckily, we got to chat with Joy Owango of TCC Africa (Training Centre in Communication). Joy had so many interesting points, fresh perspectives and we also talked about what the rest of the world could learn from research and research collaboration in Africa.

It was so eye-opening and inspiring, and we're sure you'll enjoy it.

To learn more about Joy Owango and TCC Africa:
The Training Centre in Communication(TCC Africa)

Follow TCC Africa on Twitter: @tccafrica
Follow Joy on Twitter: @joyowango


Links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:
Science Granting Councils Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa

Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET),

Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. | African Union

Thanks for listening. Do please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research please visit www.diversiunity.com. 

Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.

Representation matters - and in this episode Dr. Laura Heath-Stout explains why.

Laura is an archaeologist, she's queer and she has a disability. We talk about how archaeological findings risk being misinterpreted, the challenge on being queer in an international setting such as an archaeological dig.

But this is not just a topic for archaeology or the humanities - this is for everybody, so we chatted about this and how we work with diversity in academia with a special focus on intersectionality.

We talk about how Laura navigates diversity now that it is so politiziced and where the balance is between structural work and activism.

When not on our podcast Laura is a postdoc in archaeology at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

We learned so much and we promise this is not the last episode on ableism.

You can find Laura here:
Her website: www.lauraheathstout.com
Twitter: @lauraheathstout

Unfortunately, the Disabled Archaeologists Network doesn't yet have a website up and running, but you can request to join their Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/252441182985100) and listserv (https://groups.google.com/u/1/g/dancommunity).

Thanks for listening. Do please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research please visit www.diversiunity.com. 

Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.

Happy Research Administrators Day!

To celebrate Research Administrators Day we decided it was time to learn more about how research management and administration looks like from a Global South perspective. So we had a chat with Therina Theron and Savita Ayyar.

Therina is the president of SARIMA ( Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association) and Senior Director of R&I at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

Savita is founder of the consultancy Jaquaranda Tree and she is the lead of IRMI (India Research Management Initiative), a developing network for RMAs in India.

We talk all things research management and administration as seen from South Africa and India, the importance of international collaboration on RMAs and why you should all come to the next INORMS conference in Durban, South Africa in 2023.

Follow Therina and SARIMA :
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/therina-theron-63a95915
https://www.linkedin.com/company/southern-african-research-and-innovation-management-association

Twitter
@SARIMA20
@TherinaTheron

Follow Savita,  IRMI and India Alliance:
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/savita-ayyar-91a20241/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/indiaalliance/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/irmi-ia/

Twitter:
@SavitaAyyar
@India_Alliance
#IRMI

  Thanks for listening. Do please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research please visit www.diversiunity.com. 

Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.

Most watched in disbelief as Taliban regained the power in Afghanistan.

Many Afghans escaped but most stayed behind trying to keep society going and maintaining as positive a future as possible for Afghanistan. 

One of them is Obaidullah Baheer, lecturer at the American University in Kabul. We had the opportunity to talk to him about the situation in Afghanistan and how we can best support him and the many others trying to keep universities running and securing higher education for future generations of Afghans. 

As we talk about in the episode it is still early, but we hope many of you will listen and find ways your university can support the staff and students in Afghan universities in these challenging times. 

Obaidullah is active on Twitter, so follow him for on the ground insights on the situation in Afghanistan.

 Follow Obaidullah at Twitter: @obaidullahbaheer

 Thanks for listening. Do please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research please visit www.diversiunity.com. 

Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.

You just have to admire the five people behind "The Lost Voices".  We had the fortune of talking to them about the campaign. They started as a group of London based postdocs with diverse backgrounds who found it difficult to navigate academia and couldn't imagine having a career in research. That made them initiate "The Lost Voices" where they told their stories of race, religion, sexuality, ability etc that set them apart - and how precarity made it difficult for them to raise their voices. They did so anyway, and we are in awe of the risk they are taking, and for their home institutions who have funded them and listened to their findings.

You can hear more about their background and the work they have done in the episode, where we also talk about the report on diversity that the Russell Group published in late Spring this year, and as usual, we talk about how people in support functions at universities can help people whose voices are lost in academia.

If you are as impressed as we are and want to work with them please reach out. We know they are looking for collaborators worldwide. 

You can learn more at:
‘The Lost Voices’ national campaign website: https://ukpostdocs.toothycat.net/thelostvoices/
‘The Lost Voices’ national campaign final summary video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR2pbmGa21I&t=1s
Or find all their content and social media channels at  ‘The Lost Voices’ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/londonpostdocs

Thanks for listening. Do please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research please visit www.diversiunity.com 

Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.

This has been a long time coming.  But luckily we found Gowri Gopalakrishna and Krishma Labib from Amsterdam UMC , and they we're more than happy to be part of this conversation of the role of diversity in research integrity.

They told us about their own research on research integrity (fx the Netherlands Research Integrity Survey and the diversity of the 7th World Conference on Research Integrity), and why some people in the field do not necessarily think diversity should play a role when talking about research integrity.

They also shared some of their experiences of being women of colour in research, and as always we are grateful for people sharing personal stories like that.

Finally, they share how those of you in supporting roles can advance diversity in research integrity.

Research integrity is a developing research area, and with people like Gowri and Krishma working in this space we feel certain it will develop in a positive direction.

You can find our guests at:
Gowri Gopalakrishna:  https://research.vumc.nl/en/persons/gowri-gopalakrishna (You can also follow her at Twitter as @gowrigopala)

Krishma Labib: https://research.vumc.nl/en/persons/krishma-labib

You can read more about the National Survey on Research Integrity here: https://www.nsri2020.nl/research-integrity-covid-19 where you can also read about research integrity concerns concerning COVID-19 and vaccines.

Thanks for listening. Do please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research please visit www.diversiunity.com 

Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .

If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.