Mr. Peter Brown:

I will respond to the question on people from different backgrounds with different types of experience, such as clinical experience, coming into research. Traditionally, our research assessment has placed too much emphasis on relatively narrow metrics relating to the track record of the researcher but we are very much moving away from that now. The IRC is a signatory to the San Francisco declaration on research assessment, which basically states that the important thing is the quality of the research proposal and that we should not focus overly on narrow metrics relating to the track record of the researcher. There is a significant amount of work ongoing in this area within Ireland and the EU. A major project to create a fairer research assessment framework has just commenced and the IRC is a signatory to a coalition underpinning that. That will extend the emphasis in research assessment on different types of experience that people bring to the table, such as clinical experience or experience in industry or policy making. That will have a positive impact on supporting diversity.

As regards women in research, to be accepted to the IRC's post-doctoral fellowship programmes, for example, one needs to have completed one's PhD within a certain period. However, if the person had career breaks, breaks in work relating to having had children or other types of leave, we take account of that in applying that criterion. Those kinds of policies and practices help to support greater diversity in terms of who is coming into the research system.