Athena Swan Silver awarded to Department of Biochemistry

The Department of Biochemistry is delighted to announce the renewal of the Athena Swan Silver award.

Associate Professor Stephan Uphoff, Equality and Diversity Lead, says: ‘The Athena Swan process has helped us step back, track our progress, and honestly reflect on both the wins and the setbacks in our journey toward gender equality. This has been the work of many dedicated people in the department over the years; particularly Catherine Pears who led the Biochemistry Department’s Athena Swan Silver Award applications in 2015 and 2019 and mentored the new EDI team during the development of the 2024 application.’

Achievements over the last five years have included:

• Revising admissions scoring to fix the gender gap in students receiving offers. Since 2018, the gap has narrowed from male applicants being 7.8% more likely to receive an offer to just 1.1% today

• Growing the number of female PIs in the department from 29% in 2015 to 36% in 2024

• Gender-balancing our senior leadership team

• Creating opportunities to celebrate women scientists’ achievements and raising their visibility as role models—for example through events like International Women’s Day.

‘We’re really fortunate to work in a place where people are supportive and genuinely care about inclusion and gender equality. But it's important to remember—equality, diversity, and inclusion aren’t things a single person or committee can achieve alone. They’re about the whole community, and it takes all of us working together.’

Read a summary of the department’s application here.

Read our full interview with Stephan Uphoff here.