The Crocus DLA is committed to the UKRI Good Practice Principles in Recruitment and Training at Doctoral Level. Some of our initiatives described below are subject to funding, but most of these are already in place to provide an inclusive environment for our cohorts, enabling you to thrive as a PhD student.
While this document provides a starting point for the Crocus DLA, policies related to equality, diversity, and inclusivity are in place at all our host partners: the British Geological Survey, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Institute of Zoology, Natural History Museum, National Oceanography Centre, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, NCAS, NCEO, Swansea University, and the University of Reading.
Inclusive project design
We encourage applications from all under-represented groups, including candidates with caring responsibilities or those with a disability. In our project selection, we ask potential supervisors to keep EDI in mind and as a result you will find that activities such as field work or prolonged periods away from the host organisation are often optional. All Crocus students will be offered the opportunity to go on placement, with hybrid, part-time, and remote working options.
Anonymised applications
A number of barriers to success have been identified for BAME Home applicants1, including selection criteria based on a candidate’s university, publications, or research placements. To help reduce unconscious bias, supervisors will base selection to interview on a subset of information, namely: (1) the name of degree, (2) your statement of interest in the relevant project, (3) your statement of interest in doing a (Scenario) PhD, (4) your personal statement summarizing skills and experience relevant to doing a PhD. Note that we do not ask you to submit a CV or resume, so any information that you think is important for your application should be mentioned in your statements.
In addition to a more standardized application form for candidates, we will also standardize referee reports. We will only ask for succinct confirmation of (predicted) grades and relevant experience, where the latter can refer to a student research project or work experience. References will not be shared with supervisors until shortlisting has completed.
Inclusivity training for students and supervisors
Crocus students will undertake diversity, equality, and inclusivity (DEI) training designed for PhD students in environmental sciences in their first 6 months of study. Their supervisors will undergo similar training with a specific focus on being consciously inclusive in their supervisory approaches. The Crocus leadership team partake in the latter training to adopt a similarly consciously inclusive mindset in their management of the DLA.
BAME Home Scholarships
As part of our aim for the ethnic diversity within the Crocus DLA to reflect society, we are committed to supporting candidates from Black, Asian, or minoritised ethnic communities (sometimes referred to as BAME) that are currently under-represented in the environmental sciences. For candidates eligible for Home fees (please see section 5.2.5) who identify as being from a Black, Asian, or Minoritised Ethnic background, we offer up to 2 scholarships across our partnership. Instead of applying to a pre-existing project, you project will be formulated as part of the interview process. If you are shortlisted, you will meet with potential supervisors to identify and develop a suitable project in any of our environmental science disciplines. For further details, see our dedicated BAME scholarships page.
DEI and Wellbeing committee
Crocus will have a dedicated DEI and Wellbeing committee with a membership made up of students, supervisors, and the Crocus leadership team. They will monitor and report on our processes and their DEI aspects (from recruitment through to student experience throughout their studentships). Our Crocus DEI coordinator (subject to funding) will provide support to take forward any initiatives developed by the committee.
Widening participation in training for carers (subject to funding)
Many of our Crocus training events will be full-day or multi-day, which can be a barrier to participation for those students with caring responsibilities. The Crocus DLA have requested funds to provide financial support for those students affected to fund alternative care. Our DEI coordinator will be able to assist in finding alternative care.