Advocating for parents and carers
Download our report here: Carers in STEMM survey report
Register for a report launch event: Registration Link
Advocating for parents and carers
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Identifying & disseminating support, provisions and existing policy for carers
Understanding the impact of caring responsibilities on academic careers
Transforming funder and institutional policy to achieve sector wide change
In autumn 2024 we undertook a sector-wide survey to capture the lived experiences
of UK researchers in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and
medicine) subjects with current caregiving responsibilities. Our primary goals were
to understand the caring demographic, the scale of current provisions, transparency
in policy and ‘the need to improve’. Throughout this project we have defined carers
as “someone providing support to another individual who could not manage
without the care given”.
This project was funded and supported by a PlusFund Award from The Future
Leaders Fellows Development Network.
Our Carers Guide for Institutions provides practical strategies to help universities, research centres, and other organisations become more inclusive and supportive of staff and students with caring responsibilities.
This guide offers actionable insights to:
There is an urgent need to accelerate change to deliver initiatives that genuinely support carers, without adding to an already overworked community. We believe that opportunities for support need to be Flexible, Adaptable, Comprehensive and Transparent.
We are three scientists, all called Laura, who also happen to be mothers leading research programmes at three different Universities, across three different sectors. Between us we have 5 children under the age of 10.
University of Leeds
Dr Laura Carter is an environmental chemist and UKRI Future Leader Fellow at the University of Leeds. Dr Carter leads a multidisciplinary research group who are working to understand the fate and effects of emerging contaminants inadvertently introduced into the environment following the reuse of wastewater and treated sludges. Research is underway to explore impacts on ecosystem and human health as well as understand the contribution the environment plays in the development of antimicrobial resistance. Dr Carter works closely with stakeholders and has been appointed as a REACH challenge panel expert and a member of the Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee (HSAC) to advise Defra on how to protect the environment, and human health via then environment, from potentially hazardous substances.
University College London
Dr Laura Pallett is an immunologist and UKRI Future Leader Fellow based at University College London (UCL). Research in the Pallett lab focusses on understanding how tissue-resident T cells and the underlying stomatal cells ‘co-operate and communicate’ to better understand chronic liver diseases. Specifically research is underway to understand how these ‘local intrahepatic cells’ interact in both the healthy and diseased human liver to inform the development of improved treatments for patients. Dr Pallett is currently AthenaSWAN co-lead for her department, actively contributing to positive change to support the academic careers of women scientists. In a previous role, Dr Pallett was an Early Career Representative of the learned society the British Society for Immunology’s ‘Members Forum’ (the BSI’s ‘ThinkTank’) where issues/ideas important to the sector/membership were raised, discussed and developed. Examples of topics we covered include academic bullying, “the leaky pipeline” and vaccine hesitancy.
University of Manchester
Dr Laura Wolz is an astrophysicist working on cosmology with radio surveys. As a UKRI Future Leader Fellow, Dr Wolz leads a research group at University of Manchester with particular focus on data from the SKA Observatory and its pathfinders. Dr Wolz has an interest in the data reduction and calibration of time-ordered data to maps, as well as further processing to measure higher-order statistics from the maps. Previously, Dr Wolz led the SKA Cosmology Science Working Group (2017-21, ~130 members) where she implemented important first EDIA policies, such as Code of Conduct and Terms of References incl. transparent leadership election process, now more widely adapted within the SKAO. Since 2023, Dr Wolz is the EDIA lead of the Physics & Astronomy Department at Manchester, leading the Institute of Physics JUNO submission as well as overseeing all EDI initiatives.
We are thrilled to announce that Carers in STEMM has been awarded the Advancing Culture Award at the 2025 UKRI FLF Impact Awards. This recognition highlights the value and impact of our work in shaping culture within STEMM. It is especially meaningful to see that, only a year after co-founding Carers in STEMM, our efforts are already making a real difference. The judging panel praised the significance of our contribution and the impressive achievements reflected across this year’s submissions. The award was formally celebrated at the UKRI FLF Conference on 10 June 2025 in Brighton, where winners were recognised in a showcase of inspiring projects. Representing the 3Lauras, Laura Wolz and Laura Carter attended the conference to collect the award. Carers in STEMM also hosted a Special Interest session during the event, gathering feedback from UKRI FLF carers on the provisions they would value most in balancing work-related travel with caring commitments. We are proud of this milestone and excited to continue building a supportive community for carers across STEMM.
ImmunoLaura will be presenting the STEMM sector survey findings with respect to travel and caring at an upcoming yEFIS webinar (25th Sept). Laura will also present some of the recommendations arising from the report. Thank you for the invite, we are really looking forward to hearing from fellow parents, carers and allies across STEMM subjects. Please come along and share your own lived experiences. Register to attend here: https://tinyurl.com/yefis2025-ia2
In June (during National Carers Week) 2 of the 3Lauras attended the LINE Symposium 2025 at the Francis Crick Institute in London. The day celebrated ECR-led infection research across the UK and featured a lively discussion of our work over at Carers in STEMM. We loved the opportunity to advocate for equitable and accessible support for ECR balancing caring and career - thank you for the invite. https://londoninfection.wixsite.com/home
Earlier this year the 3Lauras convened in Leeds (the academic home of EnviroLaura) to finalise our survey analysis. During the day we explored the intricacies of travel demands on parents and carers at different careers stages, awareness of policy across UKRI research councils, and took a look into the financial burden being placed on STEMM carers. The day obviously involved lots of in depth discussion, but we rounded it off with a few sunny Aperol Spritz’ and a walk around the University Campus.
We were invited to join the Understanding Inclusive Leadership: Shaping research & innovation culture conference hosted by the FLF Development Network (Leeds; 25th - 26th November). Laura Pallett & Laura Carter joined the meeting to raise awareness about the challenges faced by academics with caring responsibilities and shared initial findings from our survey exploring the lived experiences of UK academics balancing travel and caring responsibilities. The presentation prompted follow-on discussions about the need for transparent and equal access to pre-award support in the development of applications to funding schemes and the need for continued and flexible support.
Recently while examining a local thesis at the University of Exeter, the Department of Physics & Astronomy (Astrophysics Group) #EnviroLaura (Laura Carter) presented some of the initial findings from our Carers in STEMM survey. Highlighting the survey's demographics - who responded, what caring responsibilities respondents have, what research councils respondents align to and how difficult travelling as a UK academic can be. More work is required in terms of survey analysis, but this discussion prompted productive discussions around how to better support those travelling for science, maintaining visibility and the role institutions have to play. With a particular focus on how to better enact funder policy at the local level.
To start the conversation about how as a sector we can better support those caring for dependents we have written an article, recently published in Nature where we highlight the fact new initiatives and opportunities for support need to be Flexible, Adaptable, Comprehensive and Transparent. Read more here .
On the 17th June 2024 we had our first ‘kick-off’ meeting. It turns out being at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (University of Manchester) - site of the UK’s largest radio telescope - means you get LOADS done! But it wouldn’t be a gathering of the Lauras without a celebratory “decaff ;-) espresso martini” at the end of the day 🙂
In July the Marine Technology Society invited us to join the ‘Women Leadership in Marine Technology Webinar | How can we support researcher parents and caregivers?’. We were thrilled to take part (despite the time difference ;-)) and thoroughly enjoyed discussing best practices across continents.
Lets get in touch. Send us a message:
Email: hello@carersinstemm.co.uk