UKERC aims to improve Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in energy research by bringing new, diverse voices to the table. One way we are striving to achieve this is through the Whole Systems Networking Fund (WSNF), which is intended to facilitate collaboration across disciplinary boundaries, improve networking and build lasting relationships within the energy research community.

Our objectives for the fund in UKERC Phase 4 are to:

1. Improve EDI across the energy research space.

2. Offer career enhancement opportunities for Early Career Researchers (ECRs).

3. Widen participation to share experience across disciplines and the four UK nations.

4. Undertake collaborative research with non-academic partners to investigate policy-relevant challenges that could be solved through a whole systems approach.

We would like to attract new partners that neither we nor successful applicants will have worked with before to undertake truly collaborative work. We intend to run two calls for proposals: one in 2021 and the second in 2022. The purpose of this workshop is to inform these calls, as we'd like to ask the broader energy research community how the WSNF can best be used to maximise opportunities for diversity.

This is a fantastic opportunity to help shape UKERC’s research and EDI agenda.