SCIENCE DEPENDS ON RESEARCH FUNDING Government funded research grants from United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) are the lifeblood of our research ecosystem in science, engineering, technology, mathematics and medicine (STEMM). These grants pay the salaries of researchers, support staff and technicians, allow academics to buy consumables and equipment, and cement partnerships, including access to world class facilities. This pre-determines what knowledge is produced. Winning grants is vital to career progression from being a PhD student, to developing independence as an early career researcher, to running your own lab and hiring a research team. Whilst this article recognises the systemic barriers in progression in higher education and STEMM careers1 that privilege2 ‘white’ people, we focus on evidence within the grant funding system to consider discrepancies in who is given the opportunity to do research and why this matters
