At the Department of Biology, we strive to foster a respectful, inclusive, and harassment- and discrimination-free environment where students, staff, scientists and affiliated persons from all backgrounds feel welcome, safe, and empowered to succeed in their careers. We unreservedly support equitable opportunities, gender equity, diversity and inclusion at all levels. To achieve these goals, the Department of Biology seeks to identify and address issues relevant to members of all marginalized groups and minorities. This includes, but is not limited to, considerations of racialization, religion, sexual orientation, gender as a diverse and fluid spectrum of identities beyond the traditional binary classification of biological sex, socioeconomic status, disability and care duties.
The specific goals of the department are to improve DEI through increasing diversity in hiring at all levels including leadership, and increasing equity in support for career development, opportunities to excel at all career levels, and involvement in decision making. The Department strives to put high priority on generating a working atmosphere for students and employees in which every individual can develop to their full potential and in which conscious, unconscious, structural and systemic biases are recognized, openly discussed, counteracted, and, where needed, mitigated by compensatory measures. The Department of Biology strives to foster a culture of mutual respect and appreciation, where discrimination of any kind is unacceptable, and an openness to deliver and receive criticism regarding forms and content of exchange becomes normal across all professional hierarchies.
As a response to the 2023 external research evaluation of the Department of Biology, a DEI working group was established. If you have recommendations or suggestions for what the DEI group should address, but also if you have specific wishes or concerns, please reach out to “Contact email”.