Thanks to the EDI village of people across the country who helped. Following an @EPSRC Fellowship interview in Jan, the decision is out--not quite what I expected. It came just below the funding cut-off (3rd) & it will be held over for a funding decision to be made in summer. /1

In 2018 knowing that statistically, I have 17% chance of being successful as a PI in @UKRI_News funding, as opposed to 27% for my White colleagues, I decided to write a fellowship application despite the internal gatekeeping on these sorts of mechanisms. /2

It was about a vision for a centre of excellence in aerospace coatings. @UoN_Propulsion invested nearly £1 M in equipment & infrastructure. I was asking for my time & PDRA time (with some consumables) to deliver that vision.We installed the UK's first Suspension Plasma for this/3

Do I dare say, I am the most experienced researcher in Thermal & Cold Sprayed Coatings active in the UK. Senior folks have retired & they rest are all outside the UK. I have written over a hundred peer-reviewed papers on the topic. /4

7 International centres were partners in this fellowship, including coating networks from NSF (USA), ARC (Aus), NSERC (Can), Sweden, UK, Chinese Academy of Science & three manufacturers including Rolls-Royce & Treibacher. /5

The @tigerinstemm folks who invested hours in improving the application include @i_jayas @Dr_Ifty_Ahmed @CandiceMajewski. You didn't have to do that but I am utterly grateful. I am also grateful to @PuttyKnees for setting aside half a day to read it. /6

There were three anonymous reviewers. Two great reviews & one reviewer (a typical reviewer 3) who thought I didn't decouple composition & microstructure (I spent my entire career on this topic). Anyway, the prioritisation panel in Oct recommended for an interview in Jan. /7

Thanks again to the village of EDI folks who read the 2-page response letter. Two research managers at my host provided standby support during the whole year. A special thank you to the APVC research for reading all the documents carefully. /8

I had a few months to prepare for the interview. @VOXCoaching has been amazing--the best money can buy on interview prep. I will be eternally grateful for the hard work. Countless other EDI folks provided hours of advice on EPSRC interview tips. /9

Thanks to the wider EDI network (& Fellows) on 1-2-1 discussion on interview tips @ProfValeskaTing Jason @jen @StellaPe12 @i_jayas @ProfIainTodd @BowenNEMESIS. Also, current fellows like at my host @A_Khlobystov Richard Leach were a great help. /10

The UKRI EDI Team @kirstygrainger checked up on me & EPSRC EDI team sent a note when self-isolation got in the way of the interview. I am grateful for the kindness. I mean it. /12

I thought the 40 min interview went quite well (but not good enough I guess). It was a good discussion. I had my rainbow lanyard on and we discussed EDI & twitter part of the ambassadorship with a single ethnicity panel. A 5 min pitch and the whole process in zoom. /13

The decision came out after two weeks. So here is my journey as an ethnic minority PI asking for a million pound plus fellowship to champion my research field. This simply would not have happened without the UK EDI support chain helping me out. /14

I am totally deflated but I will be OK. We have gone through a worse time. I leave my perception of biases and barriers as an ethnic minority PI asking for a fellowship to another thread. I will never get the tone right for a thread but don't be afraid to shake the tree. /15