The Department of Animal and Plant Sciences received an Athena SWAN silver award in May 2013. We are the first department at the University of Sheffield to obtain this status and are supported by the recent renewal of a bronze award for the University.

The Athena SWAN award recognises the Department’s commitment to providing a positive culture for women working in biology, addressing gender inequalities that obstruct maximizing the full potential of all members of the department. Our application outlines our positive practices and areas of improvement which are addressed in our action plan. The Athena SWAN judging panel commended our strong action plan, the role the Postdoctoral Society played in acting as a forum for discussing issues and feeding back into the application process, the rotation of major administrative load, and the successful and varied approaches to flexible working.

The action plan will be monitored by the Athena SWAN action committee.