Under representation in academia
Inequality (inequity), a lack of diversity, and a lack of inclusion is a recognised problem in the UK HEI sector. This is especially noticeable amongst postgraduate research students. The problems span several characteristics (e.g. gender, age, and disability), but there has been a particular focus recently on ethnicity, race and alma mater (where their previous degree was awarded from).
How we're trying to help
Equal Representation in Academia (ERA) is an initiative which aims to raise awareness of academic research careers for students from statistically underrepresented backgrounds and thereby facilitate the academic career path for those wanting to follow this route. ERA is open to undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds, on any degree programme.
ERA is an independent initiative founded by alumnus Dr Mohani-Preet Kaur Dhillon, and piloted at St George’s, University of London. ERA is part of the social enterprise, Ektaa CIC (translated as Unity in the Punjabi language), which works with organisations to retain diverse talent. The ERA programme is now being rolled out across universities worldwide.
The ERA programme is run by EKTAA. EKTAA work to create an inclusive environment for all and improve the representation of different backgrounds within organisations, thus retaining diverse talent.
What we offer
Through ERA we offer:
- work shadowing research placements with a travel stipend. Students who are undecided about a career in academia can shadow a research group to understand the day-to-day life of members instrumental to the scientific process such as postgraduate students, postdoctoral fellows, laboratory technicians, lab principal investigators (PIs), professors etc.
- funded research studentships for final year students who want to pursue a career in academia, to gain hands-on laboratory experience. Students design and conduct a research project and produce either a conference submission or journal article to evidence this work.
- mentoring, networking and bespoke careers sessions in collaboration with the University of London careers advisors
- engagement with the community to showcase some of the work that scientists do and to highlight the vital contribution of academia to life (e.g. the development of life-saving vaccine treatment for the Covid-19 pandemic).
Apply for a 2024 ERA Research Internship
We currently have work shadowing and studentship opportunities available via ERA at St George's, University of London. Find out more about each of these including how to apply, by clicking the headings below.
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Our 2-week work shadowing placements for students who are not in their final year provide the opportunity to gain a valuable insight into academic research careers. The placements are like a “try before you buy” experience.
You will shadow a research group to understand the day-to-day life of members instrumental to the scientific process, including but not limited to postgraduate students, postdoctoral fellows, laboratory technicians, lab principal investigators, and professors.
This will give you the opportunity to observe the different careers on offer in research and to develop a research network. You may also be involved in the group’s research practices (e.g., conducting experiments). You will experience academic activities from grant writing to writing manuscripts (in some instances), and you will work personally with a careers advisor to build your CV.
Our 8-week studentships for final year students provide the opportunity to gain hands on practical research experience. You will be able to design a project with a supervisor of your choosing and write a research proposal. The work you conduct during this studentship will contribute towards research output e.g., a research paper, conference submission and/or internal presentation. This is an opportunity for you to grow your research interest, gain valuable research experience and cultivate your research network.
Additional Information about the ERA Research Internships
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The initiative is currently open to undergraduate students from *underrepresented backgrounds who study at either St George’s or St Mary’s, University of London.
If you receive a university bursary and/or are registered with the disability service and/or are from an ethnic minority background, you are eligible to apply.
The placements will take place between June – September 2024. If successful, you will agree on a start date with your supervisor.
You will receive a stipend on par with Wellcome Trust Internships (£250 per week). The host laboratory will also be provided with funding to cover the cost of consumables for your project and/or research output. Based on the funding we have received, we will be awarding 1 studentship and 8 work shadowing placements in 2024. Please note that this is a very competitive process.
You will be considered primarily on the basis of the application form, not previous academic performance. As we receive a large number of applications, we advise you to dedicate sufficient time and effort to completing your application form. Tips: Read the instructions carefully, look into the project and related literature, review the aims of the ERA programme, and discuss your motivations for applying to the programme.
Applications will be triple marked. The top 10% will be invited for a short informal interview before the final decision is delivered. At interview, you will deliver a 5 minute presentation on ‘Why is this initiative important to you, and how can you apply this experience in the future?’
If you are interested in taking on either a 2-week work shadowing placement or 8 week studentship with a lab host that is not on the project list, please contact them directly regarding this opportunity. Alternatively, if you require more information about a project on the list, please feel free to contact Dr Dhillon and/or the supervisor directly.
Project 1: Analysing innate immune sensing using cellular models of humanageing.
- Host university: Leeds Beckett University
- Length and type of placement: 2 week work shadowing placement
- Supervisor: Dr Jaskaren Kohli
- More information: Older people are more likely to succumb to infectious diseases, but the mechanisms behind this are poorly understood. We will test whether cells from older people (known as senescent cells) produce more inflammatory molecules when infected compared to younger cells.
Project 2. Neuropsychiatric symptoms in people with Parkinson’s disease: impact on quality of life.
- Host university: St George’s University of London
- Length and type of placement: 2 week work shadowing placement to be conducted between September – October 2024
- Supervisor: Dr Lucia Ricciardi
Project 3. Producing cancer therapeutic drugs in tobacco plants.
- Host university: St George’s University of London
- Length and type of placement: 2 week work shadowing placement
- Supervisor: Dr Audrey Teh
Project 4. Supporting personalised self-management interventions and Co-design research across healthcare.
- Host university: St George’s University of London
- Length and type of placement: 2 week work shadowing placement
- Supervisor: Prof Fiona Jones
- More information: This placement will focus on learning and engaging with research that connects and harnesses the experiences of people living with different long-term conditions. An example is our recent project in Long Covid. We work in collaboration with Bridges Self-Management, a social enterprise based at St Georges that develops and delivers self-management support training and interventions used across the NHS.
Project 5. Reflective practice with the Physician Associate team.
- Host university: St George’s University of London
- Length and type of placement: 2 week work shadowing placement
- Supervisor: Mathavi Vijikanendra
- More information: The focus of this placement will be on carrying out a systematic review on ‘Reflective practice teaching in higher education’, contributing to writing it up and submitting it to a journal, as one of the authors. There will be an opportunity to attend the Advance HE’s teaching and learning conference on the 3rd of July. You will also have the opportunity to observe content from the master’s in physician associate course and spend a day in the lab, where you will be able to observe a variety of clinical diagnostic labs (clinical chemistry / haematology / immunology / PRU / microbiology / virology / histopathology).
Project 6. Optimising sample processing for antibody measurement in maternal and paediatric infectious disease research
- Host university: St George’s University of London
- Length and type of placement: 8 week studentship
- Supervisor: Tom Hall
Project 7. Understanding the role of antibody in maternal and paediatric infectious disease research.
- Host university: St George’s University of London
- Length and type of placement: 2 week work shadowing placement
- Supervisor: Tom Hall
Project 8. Functional Neurological Disorder – developing evidence based treatment in a physiotherapy service.
- Host university: St George’s University of London
- Length and type of placement: 2 week work shadowing placement
- Supervisors: Dr Glenn Nielsen
Project 9. Mechanisms of blood clot formation.
- Host university: St George’s University of London
- Length and type of placement: 2 week work shadowing placement
- Supervisor: Dr Isabelle Salles-Crawley
Project 10. Demographic reporting in clinical trials: A systematic review of the reporting of race/ethnicity, sex and age in clinical trials.
- Host university: St George’s University of London
- Length and type of placement: 2 week work shadowing placement
- Supervisors: Dr Dagan Lonsdale and Dr Reya Shah.
- More information: Our project is a systematic review building on the data that has already been collected for Phase I studies and comparing these to Phase II and Phase III studies to identify trends in reporting of demographic data over time and across regions. Our aim would be to publish the findings of this important work.
Project 11. Tranexamic acid in renal impairment – vascular surgery and clinical pharmacology project.
- Host university: St George’s University of London
- Length and type of placement: 2 week work shadowing placement
- Supervisors: Dr Dagan Lonsdale and Dr Iain Roy.
- More information: The principle focus of the internship will be in the design and undertaking of a focused systematic review of the pharmacokinetics, safety, and efficacy of tranexamic acid as a treatment for (or to prevent) bleeding in people with renal impairment. This review will inform the design of a phase II/III clinical trial of tranexamic acid use in the prevention of blood loss during lower limb amputation in patients with peripheral vascular disease (who often concomitantly have renal impairment). You will lead on and gain skills in literature search design and execution, title and abstract screening, paper review, identification and extraction of relevant pharmacokinetic, efficacy and safety data and paper quality assessment. Manuscript preparation would be the anticipated end goal of the internship. This project would suit students from, pharmacology/clinical pharmacology, healthcare scientists, pharmacy, bioinformatics, research methodology and biomedical science backgrounds, among others.
Project 12. Assessing new treatments to stop Tuberculosis-induced lung damage.
- Host university: St George’s University of London
- Length and type of placement: 2 week work shadowing placement
- Supervisor: Dr Deborah Chong
Project 13. The exploration of novel anti-cancer drugs on cardiac remodeling in zebrafish.
- Host university: St George’s University of London
- Length and type of placement: 2 week work shadowing placement
- Supervisors: Dr Daniel Meijles and Dr Catherine Roberts
Hear from ERA participants
Lien
Lien took part in one of 4 pilot work shadowing placements at St George's as part of the ERA initiative.
Maya
"This ERA placement has provided me with the opportunity to gain invaluable insight into research and academia which has had a positive influence and impact on the career path I would like to pursue, on completion of my Occupational Therapy BSc at SGUL.
"It was extremely inspirational and encouraging having my PI, Dr Andoulla Elia, other clinicians and research students share their knowledge and journeys of their career paths which made it clear with support, opportunities, hard work and dedication those of us from ethnic minorities can achieve similar career paths.
"Be confident, be bold and never doubt your abilities in pursuing a career you are passionate about."
"The members of the research and academia team were an absolute pleasure to work with, they were extremely welcoming and supportive throughout.
"I would highly recommend this placement to my fellow peers from ethnic backgrounds interested in research and academia to take the plunge and apply, it will most definitely enhance your student experience. "
Hear more from Maya in the video below.
Javeria Nishtar
“ERA has enabled me to gain essential skills, from lab techniques to how to write an effective paper, and presentation skills. The programme has made me challenge myself, and helped me understand what I do, and don’t, want to do in the future. It has definitely given me more clarity on what a career in academia would look like and the many steps towards it!”
Reflecting on why she applied for ERA, she adds: “When I entered my first university lecture, surrounded by faces from different cultures and countries, I was six thousand miles from home. I didn't feel as though this diversity translated to the teaching staff at St George’s.
“Through my education, I’ve learned how important it is to see role models that look like you, come from similar backgrounds, or have stories we can relate to. I had hopes to become a professor someday, and to get more women from underrepresented backgrounds interested in the world of science.
“I also wanted help make science accessible to those who didn’t study or work in the field, because published research is not always communicated to the general public in a way that makes it accessible. It can be difficult for someone without a background in STEM to understand research presented without context - something which can contribute to misinformation among the public.
“I hope to open a wider conversation, and to work on a publication with pieces which interest a wider range of audiences. I wanted ERA to be a stepping stone in achieving my goals, as well as a way to make science more accessible for people all over the world.”
You can read more about Javeria's experience on the programme here.
Samia Islam Tajbiha
"If you're thinking about taking the ERA placement, stop thinking about it and just apply!
"My placement taught me so much about being a scientist, being a doctor and the ability to be both at the same time.
"You learn so much about the world of science, things you were confused about and things you never even knew about before. You get a hands-on experience doing practicals all day, in a comforting and supportive environment where you can ask about the different jobs you can pursue, gaining a real human view on being a scientist and also developing relationships with the amazing St George's researchers that you don't usually get to know during university.
"Not only can you enhance your professional network and career development, but you do all of this with the knowledge that the ERA initiative supports such an important ethos in addressing the lack of workplace diversity. Advocacy is a virtue valued by those in need of equity, and by taking part in this placement, you can advocate for the need of academia representation in the world of research and bring to light its importance in our society!"
More information
Dr. Mohani-Preet Kaur Dhillon, now a Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Research & Education at SGUL, is the founder of ERA and Director of Ektaa CIC.
Mohani is working closely with the Deputy Head and Head of SGUL Graduate School Dr. Mark Bodman-Smith and Dr. Carwyn Hooper and the Dean for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Dr. Vanessa Ho, to improve Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and Widening Participation (WP) at SGUL.
If you would like to get involved in ERA or want more information, please get in touch:
Or you can follow us on social media or see us via our YouTube channel:
ERA accolades and press coverage
