From the Foundation's Executive Director and Staff:
Inclusion Statement
At the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, we acknowledge, appreciate and support the fundamental roles that inclusion and diverse perspectives have in scientific progress and innovation. We seek applicants from all backgrounds in our programs and strive to ensure a fair process for selection of awardees, recognizing that excellent science is not the exclusive endeavor of one group of people, but of all people, working collaboratively to accomplish unique solutions to challenging scientific questions.
Our founders challenged us that "there is no satisfactory substitute for excellence" and "absolute integrity in all things" - not just in the research laboratory, but in life. Strengthening the Foundation is an ongoing process and we will continue to evaluate our work and processes to identify areas where we can evolve and grow to best support the community we serve.
How We Define Diversity and Inclusion
The Foundation will incorporate the following principles of Diversity and Inclusion into our operations and culture:
Diversity: Awardees, affiliated mentors, and committee members are composed of individuals with a broad range of expertise, identities, experiences, and backgrounds.
Inclusion: Promote a sense of belonging, feeling valued, supported, and welcomed in a collaborative environment.
What We Are Doing
- Formed Foundation Steering Committee September 2021 with bi-annual meetings to establish goals and accountability, working with the Foundation's Science Advisory Council.
- Established Subcommittee Working Groups to explore Steering Committee ideas.
- Using technology to hide applicant information pertaining to name, gender, sexual identity, ethnicity, citizenship status, and institutional information from reviewers to help avoid implicit and explicit bias during the review process.
- Tracking the effectiveness of our award processes to measure where we can focus our efforts and ensure that the needs of all award winners are considered.
- Communicating award opportunities broadly to reach all groups.
- Established Code of Conduct for all awardees for research integrity and inclusive interactions.
- Supporting open dialogue, safe and healthy communication practices.
- Launched the BYI Mentor Network/Office Hours, whose goal will be to provide guidance and insights to potential applicants about the BYI program, the Foundation, and grant writing strategy in general.
- Published the results of blinding the BYI Letter of Intent Application process in eLife. See here for more information and a link to the publication.
Where We Are Going
- Conducting annual reviews of the policies, practices, and procedures for each of our grantmaking programs.
- Planning and creating large-scale webinars to share Beckman Programs information with institutions who have historically not applied or been awarded.
- Developing "example" proposals and guidance for the BYI, Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship, and Beckman Scholar Programs.
For more information on our accomplishments in 2021, read our Impact Report here
Updated: February 3, 2025
