School of Chemistry Values

Every person in the School of Chemistry will be given due regard for their rights, needs, and feelings. All will be treated equitably, with consideration and empathy.

Examples of this in action:

• Understanding that each person is deserving of kindness and compassion, regardless of their role, identity, or status.
• Demonstrating respect for individuals by using the gender pronouns and name they have chosen, respecting the practices and beliefs of their faith tradition, etc.

We endeavour to act and communicate with honesty and responsibility. The trust this builds in our research, teaching, and in our community allows us to effect positive change and cultivate an environment where each of us can thrive.

Examples of this in action:

• Supporting a culture of health and safety by following guidelines to keep labs and common areas safe, and by reporting near misses to prevent more serious accidents.
• Respecting the work that we and colleagues do by diligently citing others’ ideas and accurately representing our own work, both in teaching and research.
• Representing the social and cultural context of our work and the history of our discipline to the greatest extent possible, as part of our commitment to decolonising the chemistry curriculum.

We are a community made of many individuals with unique skills, attributes, and experiences. We endeavour to strengthen, develop, and care for the members of our community, and to ensure that everyone feels valued and included.

Examples of this include:

• Organising a wide range of events that aim to be accessible to everyone in terms of timing, format, activity, and location. We will make accessibility accommodations, including for those with caring responsibilities.
• Collaborating with University organisations, such as Chemunity and the Staff Pride Network, to ensure that students and staff have a strong network of peer support.

We are willing to listen and embrace new ideas and diversity of thought. We believe this makes our science and our environment exciting, stimulating, and adaptable.

Examples of this include:

• Every person takes responsibility for learning to recognise their biases and the impacts they have on others, whether the bias is unconscious or not. This includes engaging with diversity and inclusion training.
• Committing to recruit and hire a diverse group of students and staff through inclusive practices, and to supporting them once they are part of our community.

Our School is a space where ideas and individuals can grow and develop. We will support our community in the belief that they will carry our values with them wherever they go.

Examples of this include:

• Providing adequate career development opportunities that are tailored to the needs of staff and students, including mentoring.
• Promoting learning as individuals and as a community through an annual School EDI lecture/workshop.

We will be open to experiencing the emotions and perspectives of those within our community without judgement, even when those feelings are difficult or uncomfortable for us. We recognise this is necessary to promote connection and enable a kind and supportive research culture.

Examples of this include:

• Listening attentively to what someone is telling us by putting our complete focus on that person and spending more time listening than talking. This will help others to feel heard and recognised.
• Acknowledging that each person has a unique background and widely varying responsibilities in their personal lives, and they are each doing the best they can within those means.

We will take active steps to ensure that our behaviours and practices are sustainable from social, economic, and environmental perspectives. We will consider our impact not only within the School environment, but within our broader community of Edinburgh and the UK, as well as globally within the wider context of the climate crisis.

Examples of this include:

• Establishing and communicating expectations about workload for staff and students that are both kind and realistic, in order to encourage healthy work-life balance.
• Employing waste reduction strategies and recycling to reduce our environmental impacts and decrease spending.
• Ensuring students and staff are supported through difficult times to the greatest extent possible, both socially and economically, such as through peer support schemes and hardship funds.