Research Ireland is pleased to announce the launch of its pilot Disability Policy and Supplemental Grant. Acknowledging that researchers with a disability/disabilities may require additional supports to participate fully in the researcher endeavour, Research Ireland aims to provide a way for its grant holders and their team members to request the costs for required, eligible reasonable accommodations where those costs are not available via other existing funding mechanisms, such as the HEA Fund for Students with Disabilities.
Collaborating with the expert team at LaunchPAD, Research Ireland undertook extensive consultation with researchers with disabilities, Research Body Disability/Access Officers, and researchers who have supported team members with disabilities to ensure that the voices and experiences of individuals with disabilities remained central to the design of the policy. Based on direct feedback from these consultations with the community, the Disability Policy has been designed to minimise the burden of disclosure and support an open dialogue between the requester, the relevant Research Body, and Research Ireland. The aim of Research Ireland is to continue this iterative consultation with all stakeholders throughout the lifetime of the pilot to ensure that the policy is providing the supports anticipated.
The Disability Policy has been developed as part of the External Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy 2023-2028, which aims to be a key driver of an inclusive research culture by leading in minimising barriers to participation in research and innovation. Founded on five overarching goals, the EDI Strategy commits Research Ireland to ensuring that its investment reflects the input of researchers that are representative of society, and thus the outputs are relevant to society. Supporting researchers with disabilities is a cross-cutting objective of the EDI Strategy, directly addressing goal three which supports the engagement of Historically Underserved Communities in the design, conduct, and evaluation of research.
Individuals interested in requesting the supports available, should refer to the information on the Disability Policy webpage and review the policy and guidance documents. These documents detail who can apply, the eligibility of costs, and the request process. Queries (non-anonymous) can be sent to disability.support@researchireland.ie.
Research Ireland would like to give a special thanks to AHEAD, the National Disabled Postgraduate Advisory Committee, and the LaunchPAD Community they coordinate, for initially advocating for the development of this grant and supporting us throughout the design process. Their expertise and contribution of time and resources was essential to the development of this policy. Equally, their ability to connect us with the community of disabled researchers in Ireland to inform the design process of the policy and supplement, ensured that their needs and the lived experience of disability has shaped how it will operate.