FST BLOG

The Silman Fund - Supporting diversity at our events

• 13 January 2025
• General
• Gavin Costigan

I’ve had the joy of being Chief Executive of the Foundation for Science and Technology for six years, and the mainstay of our work is organising events to discuss those areas where science, technology and innovation meet policy and regulation. There are always so many things to talk about, from AI to climate change, industrial strategy to quantum technology.

Our aim in these events is to bring together different voices – from government, parliament, industry, universities, learned societies and many others – to discuss those areas where science, technology and innovation meet policy and regulation. Some of our best events have looked at issues of equity, diversity and inclusion in STEM, but that begs the question. Are we doing enough to support diversity in encouraging and facilitating participation in our own events? And the answer is, there is more that we should be doing.

We already livestream and record our events, which helps people access them who would otherwise be unable to. But there is a real and additional benefit when attending events face to face, and for some people, there are financial barriers to such attendance. Some of these, such as the costs of arranging additional childcare, cannot always be claimed back from people’s own institutions. And so we are, involuntarily, excluding people from our discussions.

That is why we are launching The Silman Fund, to provide small grants to cover additional costs associated with travel to and participation in Foundation for Science and Technology events, above and beyond “normal” travel costs. Such costs might include additional childcare costs, or additional costs for travel or participation associated with disability. In exceptional circumstances, support may be provided to fund regular travel and subsistence costs where participants have no other available source of funding.

The scheme is particularly targeted at early career professionals and those who are registered disabled.

The Silman Fund is named after Harold Silman, one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Foundation for Science and Technology in 1977, who served as its Honorary Treasurer for many years. In 1992, following his death, the Silman family bequeathed a small amount of money to the Foundation to be used to support participation in Foundation events. The new fund is using some of the left-over money from that original bequest.

2025 is the first year that we are running the scheme, and we hope that the scheme will grow and develop over time, and we will adapt it to the needs to people seeking to attend our events.

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