The Pirbright Institute has been awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze Award demonstrating its commitment to the Athena SWAN principles. The Athena SWAN Awards recognise success in developing employment practices to further and support the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM).
The Pirbright Institute is one of only two organisations strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Centre (BBSRC), other than Universities and University Departments, to have been given this prestigious award. The Pirbright Athena Award self-assessment team is extremely pleased that the Institute has been recognised as being an excellent employer for academic women in the field of scientific research.
Head of Human Resources at the Institute Carol Smith said: “We have all put a lot of hard work into securing this award and we are fully committed to raising the Institute’s profile as one of the key globally recognised scientific research organisations where woman are supported to progress their careers. We are delighted to have won a Bronze Award and will strive to further improve equality in science in a bid to champion opportunity for women in scientific research and achieve a Silver award next time.”
Professor John Fazakerley, Director, said: “We are building on our recent success in recruiting world-class, early career scientists, currently 30% of whom are women, to develop a team of successful and influential female staff at all levels in the Institute. We all learnt a good deal more about the Institute and how we do our business during the Athena SWAN assessment - we will embed what we have learnt into our Institute vision and strategy which is regularly monitored and updated.”
The Institute will receive the award at a ceremony in London on 1 May 2014.