The subject of this year’s ERC Annual Conference is Research on Diversity & Diversity in Frontier Research

Background: There is growing awareness of the need to acknowledge and accommodate diversity in our societies and in science. To fully understand the world we live in and to foster inclusive and fair societies, we need to take into account the plurality of perspectives and life experiences that exist. In the same vein, for science to be excellent, research designs must be able to capture and represent the diversity of the phenomena that are studied. Research that overlooks this risks leading to partial, misrepresentative or inaccurate results and to the misapplication of its findings. Likewise, technological applications are likely to benefit greatly from the participation of people with different backgrounds and needs to ensure a broad and inclusive application and use of these.

Aim: This workshop will showcase frontier research projects funded by the ERC that both study diversity in society and that exemplify the importance of taking diversity into account in research designs

Programme in brief

8.30 – 9.00 Registration

9.00 – 9.15 Opening address by Commissioner (tbc)

9.15 – 9.25 Introduction by Maria Leptin, ERC President

9.25 – 10.20 Keynote: The Female Turn: How Evolutionary Science Shifted Perceptions About Females by Malin Ah-King, Stockholm University, SE

10.20 – 10.40 Coffee break

10.40 – 12.10 Session I: Diversity in Health Research

12.10 - 13.10 Lunch

13.10 – 14.40 Session 2: Diversity from a Technological and Legal Perspective

14.40 – 15.10 Coffee break

15.10 – 16.40 Session 3: Perceptions of Diversity, with contributions from among others the project NEUROEPIGENETHICS: investigating neurodiversity in a neuromixed research group of PI Kristien Hens, University of Antwerp

16.40 – 17.45 Session 4: Roundtable: The Importance of Diversity in Research

17.45 – 18.00 Concluding remarks by Commissioner (tbc)

The full programme, speaker’s bios, concept note and registration form are available on the ERC website