Introduction video

Hello. I'm Dave Robertson. I'm an informatician: a computer scientist and I'm the Head of College of Science and Engineering. And one of the things that most attracted me to science and engineering and mathematics when I was starting as a researcher was that it gave a level playing field. You're interested in the science, you're interested in the engineering, you're interested in the mathematics, and it's the sort of thing that anybody can do, regardless of their background, their social position, their ethnicity, their gender. And that's an important basic driver for all of science and engineering and maths. But of course, because of the world we live in,  because of history, we don't have a level playing field all of the time. And so it's everybody's responsibility to try and address that; and in science and engineering at the moment, we're working very hard to try to make ourselves as accessible as we possibly can, to all different kinds of researchers, students,  members of the public, to be able to work on that and make science, engineering and mathematics, more inclusive. So I hope you'll join me in that effort and thanks very much for participating. Welcome. I'm Professor Karen Halliday, and I run a plant science lab within the School of Biological Sciences. We're interested in understanding how plants detect and respond to light. I'm also Dean of Systematic Inclusion in the College of Science and Engineering. In this role, I work with social scientists, staff and student networks, to understand where inequalities arise within our system,  and to put measures in place to ensure our culture is inclusive. We aim that everyone here feels comfortable and respected.