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We require that all members of our shortlisting and interview panels have taken, and refreshed where required, fair selection and unconscious bias training in advance of the recruitment process.
We consider the diversity and representation of our shortlisting and interview panels with regards to e.g. gender/ethnicity/career stage.
All applicants are considered on the basis of standardised documents that they submit.
We anonymise applications during the assessment and shortlisting process.
We ask referees to use anonymous, non-gendered language in writing their reference statements.
Our application includes criteria focussed on candidate potential and suitability for PhD study.
We have adjusted our assessment of applicants to reduce emphasis on grades/degrees/awarding institution/references and to place greater emphasis on contextualised applications via narrative descriptions of experiences provided by each applicant.
Our scoring criteria provide an opportunity for consideration of both standard academic achievements (e.g. paper authorship) and non-standard achievements (e.g. working to fund studies/ industry experience).
We use a standardised quantitative shortlisting matrix with pre-defined scoring criteria to shortlist candidates. Clear guidance is provided for those involved in both the shortlisting and interview recruitment processes.
We provide an opportunity for applicants to declare if they belong to an under-represented group and for them to provide any voluntary information on factors affecting their personal circumstances should they wish to do so. Assessors of applicants are explicitly instructed to consider this information.
We have increased the number of interviews we conduct, enabling us to ring-fence approximately 15-20% of interview places for appointable applicants from underrepresented groups, in addition to those offered an interview as higher-ranking applicants.