Fairness, Equality, Respect, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (FERDIE) are paramount values for BRFAA and its Faculty and thus central to implemented policies. The Faculty, with the support of its Board of Directors aims to provide a safe, fair, inclusive, and equitable environment for research, study, training, and work, as it believes that this is the mode to achieve inclusive excellence, where everyone thrives and reaches their full potential.

Therefore, BRFAA states publicly on its Statutes and Bylaws and its web site that

• human diversity is a source of strength, the kind that enhances knowledge
• marginalization of any human identity does not conform to the BRFAA founding principles of removing barriers in knowledge and in the wellbeing of people.
• BRFAA will continue to strive to cultivate an inclusive culture through policies, programs, and staff, student, and Faculty support services.

These principles derive and are guided by the Greek Constitution and the Greek laws. Indeed,
→   Only Twelve World Countries Have Full Equal Rights for Women, Greece is one of them
According to the recently published report “Women, Business and the Law 2022” by the World Bank (data are current as of October 1, 2021), only twelve countries in the world offer full legal protections to women: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden and thus full equal rights for men and women, at least from a legal perspective.

• Has developed educational tools for inclusivity, e.g., mentoring course, outreach programs to high school students from rural areas
• Facilitates special needs of researchers
• Continues to support inclusivity through the engagement of faculty, staff, and trainees in responsibility undertaking, decision making committees
• Participates, through all of its members and personnel in discussions and discourses, concerning relevant matters in research and education workplaces, in the public domain
• Has established student- and postdoc-led seminar series
• Encourages and offers its facilities for open to public meetings and events that disseminate FERDIE awareness and purposes

Research positions are developed through the identification of strategic scholarly areas by the Scientific Board (SB), the members of which clearly define the necessary disciplinary background and the level of needed experience.  Upon approval of the Board of Directors, positions are publicly announced at the DIAVGEIA portal, two national newspaper, the web site of BRFAA and at APELLA, as the law demands.  APELLA organizes, inspects and publicizes all procedures of elections and promotions of institutional professors and investigators, and the submission of candidacies. In addition, APELLA compiles and maintains both Registries of Internal and External members BRFAA and all research centers and universities.  Selection committees are drawn, by an electronic randomizer, from these registries exclusively by affinity of the scientific field, with no exception.  The selection again follows the strict provisions of the law.

Hiring of administrators, PhD students, and post-doctoral fellows, publicized on the BRFAA site, follow the DIAVGEIA (means transparency in Greek) channel, whereby, all institutions are obliged to upload their acts and decisions on the DIAVGEIA portal with special attention to issues of national security and sensitive personal data; administrative acts and decisions are not valid unless published online.  This program safeguards transparency of institutional procedures, eliminates corruption, and reinforces citizens’ constitutional rights, as the participation in the Information Society.  Selection committees are formed from appropriate for the position BRFAA personnel and results are again publicized at DIAVGEIA.

All salaries, pay, remuneration, and matters of procurement are centrally regulated under Greek laws and under the scrutiny of  the Independent Authority for Public Revenue of Greece (ΑΑDΕ).

Within these constraints, BRFAA remains committed to promoting equality in all its activities and aims to provide a work, learning, research, and teaching environment free from discrimination and unfair treatment.  Thus, in recognizing the importance of constantly surveying for factors that may cause exclusion and implement meaningful changes when needed and with the intention to include all BRFAA administrators and trainees, the Scientific Board acted to reform the previously functioning Grievance and Mediation Committee for BRFAA investigators and research associates, as the Committee for Fairness, Equality, Respect, Diversity, and Equity, FERDIE (Greek: Επιτροπή Δικαιοσύνης, Ισότητας και Ένταξης).

The recommendation was fully supported by the Board of Directors, who approved this Committee as a BRFAA official entity.

The current members of the committee are:

Dimitra Mangoura, Investigator A, Coordinator and Representative
Thanasis Anagnostopoulos, Staff Research Scientist B’
Marietta Damigou, Administrator   
Panos Karakaidos, Research Associate
Elena Katsantoni, Investigator C
Charoula Peta, Graduate Student
Panos Politis, Investigator B
Emmanouella Tsirimonaki, Research Scientist
George Tzanoukos, Biomedical Technologist

The tasks, goals, and workflow of the FERDIE Committee are: 

• Establish a broad understanding of what a diversity, equity and inclusion statement is for the specific setup of BRFAA
• Compile qualitative and quantitative demographic data of BRFAA groups (faculty, staff, students), concerning, Age, Disability, Ethnicity/national origin, Family status, Gender, Gender identity or expression, Parental mother tongue, Race, Religion, belief, and spirituality
• Identify needs and/or areas of concern, after data collection, organization, and analysis
• Address policies or practices affecting the achievement of a safe, fair, inclusive and equitable environment
• Provide recommendations for next steps to the Scientific Board for further analysis and then onto the Board of Directors for implementation
• Communicate and organize the dissemination of relevant principles (website, group meetings, outreach activities)
• Receive particular grievances and complains for consideration at ferdie@bioacademy.gr; promulgate and channel them to exclusive formal procedures
• Open discourse through additional channels between the central governance and community members
• Meet regularly and work along with the newly established Network of Gender Equality Committees of most Greek Research Centers, which is also connected with the similar network of Greek Universities.