The National Health and Medical Research Council commences consulting on gender equity in the Investigator Grant scheme

The first open forum, with NHMRC chair Anne Kelso presenting, is at Uni Queensland, 12.30 today, followed by ten more in-person and on-line around the country.

It follows three years of gender-imbalance in awards for the elite Investigator programme, generating vocal criticism, which the NHMRC acknowledges. “The gender disparities in funding outcomes in the Investigator Grant scheme reflect the systemic disadvantage faced by women in health and medical research, made visible by the attrition of female applicants at more senior levels of the scheme.”

The council has circulated four options to address the issue but warned, ““no model can achieve equal funded rates, equal numbers of grants and equal total funding for women and men at the same time,” (CMM July 18).