PORTIA

Their core work

PORTIA is a London-based NGO specialising in gender equality research and consultancy for European research organisations. They design and evaluate gender equality interventions — including gender equality plans, communities of practice, and structural change strategies — tailored to research institutions and universities. Their work bridges policy analysis and practical implementation, helping organisations embed gender equality into research careers, decision-making processes, and institutional culture. They have particular domain expertise in physics and STEM research environments.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

PORTIA began their H2020 participation focused narrowly on gender equality within physics research organisations (GENERA, 2015-2018), applying specialist expertise to a single scientific discipline. By their second project (ACT, 2018-2021), scope had broadened substantially — shifting to cross-sectoral institutional change, gender equality plans as formal policy tools, and community of practice models applicable across all research fields. The trend is a clear expansion from discipline-specific diagnosis to transferable, system-level change methodology.

PORTIA is moving toward scalable, transferable models for institutional gender equality change — making them increasingly relevant for any research organisation required to implement a formal gender equality plan, a mandatory condition under Horizon Europe.

How they like to work

PORTIA consistently joins projects as a specialist partner rather than leading them, contributing substantive gender equality expertise to larger European consortia without taking on coordination overhead. Across two projects they engaged 26 distinct partners in 15 countries, indicating they integrate well into complex international teams. This breadth of partners suggests they are comfortable in diverse multi-partner environments and are not locked into repeat relationships with the same institutions.

PORTIA has built a network spanning 26 consortium partners across 15 countries through just two projects, reflecting strong integration into wide European networks focused on research policy and gender equality. Their reach is genuinely pan-European with no obvious geographic concentration.

What sets them apart

PORTIA occupies a rare niche as a small specialist NGO with deep expertise in gender equality specifically within research and innovation organisations — not generic corporate diversity work. Their combination of policy research, practical implementation tools (gender equality plans, communities of practice), and sector-specific knowledge of physics and STEM gives them a credible, evidence-based offer that larger generalist consultancies cannot easily replicate. For Horizon Europe consortia, where gender equality plans are now a mandatory requirement, PORTIA's track record in developing and evaluating these tools makes them a directly useful partner.

Highlights from their portfolio

• GENERA
  PORTIA's highest-funded H2020 project (EUR 262,500), establishing a Gender Equality Network across European physics research organisations — a pioneer effort predating the Horizon Europe gender equality plan mandate.
• ACT
  Demonstrates PORTIA's evolution toward scalable institutional change tools, introducing a community of practice model replicable across any research or innovation organisation seeking structural gender equality reform.