From suchith.anand at ethicaldatainitiative.org Sat Sep 6 12:51:35 2025 From: suchith.anand at ethicaldatainitiative.org (Suchith Anand) Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2025 12:51:35 +0100 Subject: [Responsible-digital-futures] Open Letter on REF 2029 - Research Culture Message-ID: Call To Action: UK Government, The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, UKRI, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council, African Union, G20 South Africa Summit 2025 , Governments of Global South countries, Commonwealth Secretariat, Universities UK, Russell Group, Association of African Universities, Association of Commonwealth Universities, Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, Vice-chancellors, leaders of professional and scientific organisations, senior university leaders, university staff , EDI leads, Higher Education stakeholders Dear colleagues It is disappointing to learn about racism in some UK work environments. Racial discrimination is illegal as per the UK law. It is a sad fact that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and students are suffering racial discrimination in silence for many years in many UK universities. There is a huge pressure to hide racial discrimination under the carpet and silence colleagues who raise these issues. More than 120,000 workers from minority ethnic backgrounds have quit their jobs because of racism, suggests a landmark study that has found workplace discrimination is sapping the confidence of a large part of the UK workforce. Details at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/01/more-than-120000-workers-quit-jobs-because-of-racism-uk-study-suggests UK universities are institutionally racist, says leading vice-chancellor https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/apr/28/uk-universities-are-institutionally-racist-says-leading-vice-chancellor Black scientists say UK research is institutionally racist https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58795079 Webinar discussion: Why are there so few Black professors, and what can we do about it? https://www.gatenbysanderson.com/news/webinar-discussion-why-are-there-so-few-black-professors-and-what-can-we-do-about-it/ Nature article published on ? How UK science is failing Black researchers ? in nine stark charts" https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-022-04386-w/index.html More details and link to Open Letter on ?Racism in UK Universities? at https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/geoforall/2024-December/006552.html I request that the UK Government, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology , UKRI, Research Funders, Equality and Human Rights Commission to investigate this as it is affecting thousands of Black and minority ethnic staff and students in the UK. I am an opponent of racism in science and academia. Racial discrimination is illegal as per the UK law. All colleagues raising concerns on racial discrimination in any UK university need to be protected. I had to suffer racial discrimination for over 10 years at a UK university during my early career. I decided to share my experience so that in future other colleagues don?t have to suffer racial discrimination in any UK university. I was denied even a single promotion continuously for 10 years. I was doing excellent research, published high quality journal papers, contributed to university teaching, brought in lots of research funding for the university, established new research labs in the university and globally , supervised Masters and PhD students, served as an external PhD examiner to other UK and European universities , gave invited keynote presentations at international scientific conferences, chaired international scientific committees but I still had to suffer racial discrimination in promotions continuously for 10 years. When I finally had the courage to raise this, then the university management were doing everything to silence me and cover up. This is clear evidence of the scale of racial discrimination happening in some UK universities. I am grateful to the International Science Council for giving me the courage to share about racial discrimination that I had to suffer over 10 years during my early career at a UK university. I decided to share my experience so that in future colleagues and students don?t suffer racism. Details at https://council.science/current/blog/no-problem-is-too-big-combating-discrimination-in-geospatial-science/ Following my interview with the International Science Council , I had many Black and minority ethnic colleagues from across various universities in UK contacting me and thanking me for showing the courage to speak out against Racism. It is so sad and disappointing to hear the scale of racial discrimination experiences from Black and minority ethnic colleagues in some UK universities. It is important to talk about research culture and the Research Excellence Framework 2029. I thank the UK university community and REF 2029 community for this focus on research culture for REF 2029. Let us all work to build a healthy and thriving research system that delivers the maximum benefits for society. It is imperative to implement the recommendations outlined in the report on Creating Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Higher Education by all UK universities. More details at https://www.henley.ac.uk/news/2024/action-needed-to-dismantle-systematic-barriers-faced-by-black-academics Together, let's drive meaningful change towards a more inclusive and equitable representation in the UK academic landscape. Let us support the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion, continuing to build communities where all voices are heard, and every individual thrives. ?Be the change that you wish to see in the world.? - Mahatma Gandhi Let?s build a world beyond racism and discrimination, where we all exercise our human rights. Be a human rights champion! Best wishes Suchith Professor Suchith Anand Professor of Practice in Science Policy | Senior Adviser to Governments and International Organisations | Scientist | Global Citizen | Science Diplomacy | SDG Volunteer and Advocate https://spspa.exeter.ac.uk/people/profile/index.php?username=sa1131 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: