Grant panels must have fair share of women, ERA group says

The European Research Area’s working group on gender has called for gender balance, double-blinded reviews and bias monitoring on grant panels across the continent.

In a policy brief published on 28 March, the group listed ongoing manifestations of gender bias in European research and made recommendations to funders and national authorities.

Many research councils in Europe already require that both men and women make up at least 40 per cent of grant panels, but the group hinted they should be at least 60 per cent women by 2020. “Funding organisations should be required to introduce at least a 40:60 male-female rule as a minimum on evaluation panels,” the group said.