Our equality charter

Students at computers

The Athena SWAN Charter recognises commitment to advancing women's careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education. The Charter was launched in June 2005 and has three levels of award, Bronze, Silver and Gold. Heriot-Watt University was a founding member of the Charter and in 2013 was awarded Bronze. The School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences achieved the Athena SWAN Bronze Award in October 2015, and successfully renewed their Bronze Award in May 2019.

The MACS application for a School Athena SWAN Bronze Award was co-ordinated by the MACS Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team (SAT), led by Professor Damien Clancy and made up of representatives from across the School.

The School is now implementing the action plan set out in our application. The Athena SWAN Team is currently co-ordinated by Dr Audrey Repetti and Professor Andrew Ireland. The Team discusses, implements, promotes and monitors the action plan and measures its success, reporting regularly to the School's Management Board, and ensuring that actions are embedded within the School's existing structures.

Heriot-Watt University is a registered supporter of the Good Practice Scheme of the London Mathematical Society's Women in Mathematics Committee.

University Human Resources policies are available, including family friendly policies and policies on working flexibly.

MACS Athena-SWAN Summer Undergraduate Bursaries

The School will provide up to four undergraduate bursaries to MACS students over the summer months in support of our aim to improve gender equality across our three disciplines. Each bursary will be worth £1000 and paid directly to the student.

1. Project proposals and submission

Project ideas can come from students and/or academic staff from across the School. A project proposal must, however, be submitted by an academic member of staff that is willing to act as the project supervisor. A maximum of one proposal per supervisor can be submitted in this call.

Note that the bursaries are not large. By way of guidance, £1000 is roughly equivalent to what the university would pay a Student Ambassador for 100-hours of their time. The duration of a project is therefore relatively flexible, e.g., it could be condensed into a few weeks or spread out across the summer months.

The application form should be sent to athena-macs@hw.ac.uk by NOON on Friday 5 April 2024.

2. Project deliverables

A condition on receiving a bursary is that a short report (i.e., 300 words max) on the project outcome(s) will be produced. This report should include a summary by the student on what they have gained from their experience. The report should be submitted to athena-macs@hw.ac.uk before the start of first semester (2024-25).

3. Project selection

The allocation of these bursaries will be based upon:

  • the potential of the student and their motivations
  • the potential for improving gender balance
  • the expected project outcomes
  • ensuring a balance across disciplines and research groups

Awards will be announced by the end of April 2024

Key information

Dr Audrey Repetti

Job title
Assistant Professor
Email
a.repetti@hw.ac.uk

Prof Andrew Ireland

Job title
Professor
Email
a.ireland@hw.ac.uk