Advancing the sex and gender dimension in the research and innovation funding process

Inclusion of the sex and gender dimension in research and innovation improves the quality and relevance of funded research and innovation projects. With Horizon Europe, the EU Commission increases its commitment to incorporating the sex and gender dimension in research and innovation, requiring it by default and evaluating it under the excellence criterion unless indicated otherwise.

This report summarises the outputs from a workshop organised by The Funding Organisations for Gender Equality (FORGEN) Community of Practice (CoP) working group on the “Sex and gender dimension in the research and innovation funding process”. Initially, the working group leaders conducted a survey among FORGEN CoP members regarding their implementation of the sex and gender dimensions throughout the research and innovation funding process. The survey was presented and elaborated upon, and a workshop was held in September 2021 with the FORGEN CoP R&IFO members and Professor Londa Schiebinger of Stanford University, a world-renowned expert in this area. The workshop was centred around the FORGEN CoP survey and a global review performed by Gendered Innovations and Wellcome to evaluate policies on sex, gender, and/or diversity analysis in research design.