Abstract

Trying to cover the myriad of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) issues associated with the day-to-day life of an international research institute can be overwhelming, especially if the administration and management staff of the institute is limited by size. While developing a plan provides an opportunity to analyse and organise current initiatives, establish protocols and influence both staff and decision-makers, many principles may already be in place in the organisation's strategic processes and policies, as internationalisation and scientific excellence go hand in hand with having a diverse, inclusive and egalitarian research environment.
This poster aims to explain how the past, present and future of EDI initiatives parallel the development of IMDEA Nanoscience's Research Support Office (RSO) in order to inspire other organisations on the path towards more egalitarian institutions. IMDEA Nanoscience, a fairly young scientific and technological research institute, started with a single office dedicated to project management and HR, which has since been divided into several research management offices, including the RSO. The evolution of these management structures goes hand in hand with the handling of EDI-related issues.
In a first phase, with a single Projects and HR office, problems arose related to the practical aspects of the internationalisation of the institute: ensuring the attraction of international talent and completing the processes of welcoming foreign researchers. In a second phase, the problems were related to aspects of rapid staff growth. In this phase, the already created RSO led the development of Gender Equality policies. Now, looking to the future, a gender equality plan is being developed and we have an equality specialist in the Office, who among others carries out training and networking activities to acquire best practices.