BSC Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization statement

The mandate of the Biophysical Society of Canada (BSC) is to advance and promote biophysics research, training and dissemination activities in Canada. BSC is committed to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion throughout all of our activities and in the community of biophysics. We acknowledge the historical and ongoing injustice that shows inherent and implicit bias in various aspects of the scientific award process. We believe that all members, visitors and event participants should be treated with dignity, respect and kindness, and we do not tolerate any form of discrimination. To ensure this, the awards given by BSC not only recognize the scientific achievements of individual awardees but also serve as a proactive force to foster a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion in the biophysical community. To achieve this, the Awards Committee will:

1. Encourage nominations of outstanding colleagues from Indigenous Peoples, members of racialized communities and visible minorities, persons with disabilities, women, and persons who identify as 2SLGBTQ+.
2. Welcome self-nominations for BSC Fellow, Early Career Investigator Award and Michèle Auger Award for Exceptional Service.
3. Require mandatory Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization (EDID) training for all Award committee members to have a thorough understanding of the systematic barriers and the impact of biases on selection processes and to take these impacts into account while reviewing nominations for all our Principal Investigator and Trainee awards.
4. Collaborate with other scientific societies to actively identify exceptional biophysicists from under-represented groups across Canada.