Nuffield Foundation

Who we are

The Nuffield Foundation is an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance social well-being.

We achieve this by funding and undertaking rigorous research, encouraging innovation, and supporting the use of sound evidence to improve people’s lives. We tackle pressing, complex questions. Our aim is to open up opportunities and to improve lives for individuals, families and communities, within a just and inclusive society. Our work addresses the inequalities, disadvantage, discrimination and vulnerabilities that people face, and considers the social and ethical implications of scientific and technological advances.

We are the founder and co-funder of Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Nuffield Family Justice Observatory and the Ada Lovelace Institute.

Our culture and values

• Independence: Our financial and political independence gives us the freedom to be open and objective in our approach, and to focus on the power of evidence.

• Rigour: We have high standards in all that we do, achieving a quality that gives us influence and impact.

• Inclusivity: We will further diversity and work to ensure that everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered.

• Collaboration: We convene and connect with individuals and organisations to maximise our collective impact, recognising that we will not bring about change on our own.

• Curiosity: We foster a spirit of exploration, encouraging our staff and those we fund to pursue new ideas and challenge old assumptions.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

Embedding equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) into all aspects of our work is a key priority for the Foundation, aligns with our values, and is central to our purpose of advancing wellbeing and improving people’s lives.

Understanding the systemic inequalities, disadvantage, discrimination and vulnerabilities that people face, how they intersect, and what should be done about them is a core focus of the work that we fund and do.  

In our approach to EDI, we are prepared to try new initiatives and learn from them. We are committed to working with our partners to build our own understanding and to support and promote the adoption of best practice in the research community.   

Our EDI action plan covers three areas:

• Embedding and championing EDI in the substance of our work. We will ensure that inequality, disadvantage and discrimination remain prominent aspects of the work we fund and do, and will keep the coverage of these topics in our work under active review. We will ensure that a diverse range of people and perspectives can engage in our dialogues, meetings and events.

• Funding a more diverse range of grant holders. We will monitor the diversity of those we fund and increase our engagement with groups currently under-represented in our grant holder base compared to UK society.  We will provide support for researchers we fund at early career stage and will focus on how best to do this for minoritised groups. We will review our grant application processes to ensure they are accessible and inclusive.   We are committed to collaborating with our partners, including other organisations developing and adopting EDI best practice.

• Diversifying our workforce and embedding an inclusive culture.  We will seek to employ staff from a diverse range of backgrounds and ensure an inclusive workplace culture, with policies and practices that support the wellbeing of all our staff, and where we celebrate our differences. We are committed to making sure our management and governance arrangements are fit for embedding EDI throughout our work. Our employees will receive regular training, our recruitment processes will be transparent and fair, and we will frequently ask for and act on staff feedback to improve how we work.