Early Career Researchers Hub   :   ECR Training and Development

Welcome to this month's ECR Newsletter where you will find key information on the following:-

Spotlight On ...

ECR Researcher Development Programme

Learning and Development Opportunities: University of Exeter and Beyond

Research Grants, Funding & Competitions

Research & Researcher Networks

Research & Researcher Blogs

Organising an Event & Need Help?

Health, Wellbeing & Support

Please direct any questions you may have to researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk.

Previous copies of Newsletters can be viewed by clicking here. If you have something that you'd like to share in future Newsletters, click here for copy deadline dates as well as submission guidelines.

Deadline for Expressions of Interest : Wednesday 18 October 2023

Are you a researcher with an interest or expertise in health inequalities and social justice?

GW4 Crucible is a leadership development programme which brings together 30 competitively selected future research leaders to explore how you can enhance your career by working with researchers in vastly different disciplines on a themed research topic.

The theme of GW4 Crucible 2024 is ‘Tackling health inequalities and driving social justice through radical interdisciplinarity’. The programme will leverage the combined experience of engineers to sociologists and clinicians to statisticians to generate comprehensive, multifaceted and radically interdisciplinary approaches to tackling health inequalities that will lead towards creating a fairer, just society for all.

The hybrid programme will bring these individuals together through two in-person residential (two-day) labs, as well as four online masterclasses. You will explore working in an interdisciplinary and collaborative way and will have the chance to connect with expert guest speakers, enhancing your professional networks and visibility.

For further information about GW4 Crucible 2024 and to discuss the application process, contact Dr Chris Wood, Head of Researcher Development and Research Culture, University of Exeter.

The Researcher Development Core Training Programme for ECRs is a development programme specifically designed for Early Career Research staff (i.e., staff on research contracts grades E to G), across all campuses of the University of Exeter. Upcoming courses:-

Writing Targeted Grant Proposals - 09/10/2023 (10 am - 11.30 am).
The Impactful Researcher - 10/10/2023 (10 am - 12 noon).
Publishing in Open Access - 11/10/2023 (10 am - 10.45 am).
Getting Stuff Done - 17/10/2023 (2 pm - 3.30 pm).
Mapping & Marketing Your Skills - 18/10/2023 (11 am - 12.30 pm).
Introduction to Unix - 20 & 27 October (2-part course) (10 am - 1 pm).
An Introduction to Research Ethics Review - 25/10/2023 (10 am - 11.30 am).
Peer Reviewing Research Papers - 30/10/2023 (10 am - 11.30 am).
Questionnaire Design – a very basic introduction - 31/10/2023 (10 am - 11.30 am).
Depositing Your Work to ORE - 01/11/2023 (10 am - 10.45 am).
LinkedIn for Researchers : Developing and Using Your Profile - 01/11/2023 (2 pm - 3.30 pm).
The Why, Who, What & How of Public Engagment with Research - 06/11/2023 (10 am - 12 noon).
Complying with Your Funder's Open Access Policy - 08/11/2023 (10 am - 10.45 am).

Run by ECRs/Academics for ECRs/Academics, these sessions run every Monday and Thursday mornings (10 am – 12.30 pm). Attendees do not have to stay for the whole session – they can dip in and out as they chose, which makes it all the more appealing! 

These sessions allow participants to block out protected time for whatever they need to work on and encourages productivity. The group's aim is not only to create dedicated working space, but also to create a community of practice through discussing experiences and sharing learning.

Click here for dates and details of how to join this group.

To make things easy, these sessions can be accessed via the same Teams Link - click here (you will need to request to become a member).

Unsure of your future career direction either within Academia or beyond Academia? Kenneth Howgill, (Careers Coach for Researcher Development and Research Culture), is available to offer 1:2:1 Career coaching appointments for ECRs.  50 minute online appointments are available for you to book on by clicking here.  

Kenneth can offer advice and discuss how to manage and plan your career and has timeslots through to December.  If you have any queries, please contact ResearcherDevelopment@exeter.ac.uk.

In addition to 1-2-1 career coaching covering career planning and progression, Kenneth also offers support in preparing for job interviews, both for academic roles and positions outside of the university sector. This can include coaching on strategies for preparing to attend an interview (whether these be online or face to face) as well as going through potential questions using a practice interview format. Click on the button below to book your timeslot (these are the same as the normal 1:2:1 Career Coaching timeslots). Once you have booked your timeslot please contact Kenneth directly (k.a.howgill@exeter.ac.uk) with documentation on the role and application details.

Interested in engaging with policymakers but not sure where to start?  Check out the new Policy@Exeter Resources Hub, a one-stop shop for all capacity building resources related to policy engagement here at Exeter.

As part of its ongoing support to researchers, Policy@Exeter also delivers monthly training and advice sessions for anyone who is at the start of their policy engagement journey.  Sessions are available to all members of staff (academic and professional) and students (UG, PG and doctoral) at the University of Exeter, regardless of career level or discipline. Everyone is welcome!

Monday 9 October 2023 (10 am - 5 pm) - Delivered Virtually.

This workshop will showcase new methodologies developed during the Turing Theory and Methods Challenge Fortnight event that took place in January 2023. One of the primary objectives of this workshop is to comprehend the emergent skills deep artificial networks display when their control parameters are varied. It is presently unclear what these skills are and how many emergent properties these networks possess, but deep networks' capability to variably adjust their signal-to-noise ratios offers a clear avenue for investigation.

Deadline: Monday 9 October 2023

Postgraduate Pedagogies Journal are calling for Early Career Researchers and PhD candidates to submit an abstract for their fourth volume of academic articles authored by postgraduate researchers and academics working with them, due to be published in summer 2024.

Postgraduate Pedagogies is an online open-access journal devoted to articulating and sharing the perspectives of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). They publish texts that convey the experiences, reflections, and analyses of current and recent graduate teaching assistants, those who work with GTAs, and those who support them. The journal publishes a variety of contributions, including Reflective Essays, Opinion Pieces, Case Studies, Book Reviews, and Technology Reviews.

This is open to doctoral researchers and Early Career Researchers (up to a maximum of three years postdoctoral) who are currently based in the UK.

Wednesday 11 October 2023 (1 pm - 2 pm)- Delivered Virtually

This training is mandatory for anyone wishing to store ANY human samples at the University of Exeter. 

If you plan to collect informed consent as part of your research, there is also the Informed Consent training held on Wednesday 11 October 2023 (2.15 pm - 3.15 pm) - delivered virtually.

Please contact HTA-return@exeter.ac.uk for further enquiries.

An online creative writing group for ECRs/PGRs has just been launched. There will be opportunities to write creatively and to receive feedback on creative work. All skill levels welcome. Sessions will take place on Microsoft Teams on Wednesdays between 5.30 pm - 6.30 pm.  Email Ellen Grace Lesser for more information and access to join the meeting.

Our Images of Research Competition provides you with the opportunity to showcase your research to staff, students and the public. The competition - now in its 10th year - has received hundreds of entries over that time, showcasing the breadth of research undertaken at the University through single, visually-engaging images and short, jargon-free descriptions. 

To celebrate the 10th year of entry, we’re planning on exhibiting at several locations across Devon and Cornwall and offering some extra special prizes.

Full details will be available in the next newsletter, but in meantime you can view entries from previous years on our Images of Research webpage.

Thursday 25 & Friday 26 January 2024 – Reed Hall, Exeter.

Join colleagues working in health research across multi-disciplinary boundaries, clinicians and academics, guided by world-class research professionals, to build on your experience of Systematic Reviews and knowledge of Qualitative Evidence Synthesis.
The programme is here, but you can expect:

• Approaches, tools, and methodologies for mixed methods systematic reviews and syntheses
• Mixed methods design
• Formulating mixed methods review questions
• Approaches to searching, study selection, data extraction and critical appraisal. 

Please contact the CPD team at the Faculty of Health and Life Science for further information: UEMS_CPD@exeter.ac.uk.

This course is in high demand and places are limited – we recommend registering at the earliest opportunity to guarantee a place. Early bird rate available until 31 October: £600.00.

Deadline: Monday 1 April 2024

Postgraduate Pedagogies Journal are in search of a piece of refreshing design or artwork to dress the forthcoming volume of the journal.

This opportunity is open to doctoral researchers and Early Career Researchers (up to a maximum of three years postdoctoral) who are currently based in the UK.

There are three prizes up for grabs.
First prize:
• artwork printed on the front and back covers of Postgraduate Pedagogies Journal Vol. 4.
• £200 (voucher).
2 Runners-up:
• artwork printed inside the Postgraduate Pedagogies Journal Vol. 4.
• £50 (voucher) each.

Artwork specifications:-
Format: JPEG; 300dpi (final version); 31.2x21.6cm.
Please submit file size 180dpi.

Call opened : Monday 4 September 2023
Internal Expression of Interest Closes : Friday 6 October 2023
Internal Feedback : Friday 27 October 2023
Full Stage Closes : Tuesday 28 November 2023

Flexible Talent Mobility Accounts (FTMAs) will commit £3 million over three years to support placements and exchanges for bioscience research staff from and to universities, BBSRC institutes, businesses, policy, or other settings, in the UK and overseas.  If you are interested in applying, contact HLS-ResearchCluster@exeter.ac.uk, and create it as a project idea on Worktribe.

Applications Open : Tuesday 7 November 2023

The Career Development Fellowship (CDF) is a four-year, postdoctoral research fellowship that aims to support the retention in STEM of researchers from underrepresented backgrounds. The scheme will initially run as a pilot with researchers from Black heritage.

Next meeting for your diary:-
Wednesday 18 October 2023 (1 pm - 2.30 pm).

All ECRs can attend an 'ECR Liaison Forum' (ECR LF).  The LFs continue to develop and now act as a formal route for PGRs and ECRs within the ECR Networks to feed into University strategy. Dedicated ECR Reps feed ‘to and from’ the ECR Liaison Forums from several strategic boards, steering and working groups, including the Research and Impact Executive Committee (RIEC), and other steering and working groups such as the Concordat Steering Group. If you'd like to come along, simply email researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk asking to be added to the ECR LF list and you will be invited to future meetings.

Friday 27 October 2023 (2 pm - 3pm).

An informal, recurring one-hour session taking place on the last Friday of every other month.

Feel free to pop in online during this hour to meet with a fellow ECR Network members. This is a space to give ECRs the opportunity to network and make connections. There is no structure or set path this Coffee Hour has to take, we want you, the ECRs to use this time however you feel would be most beneficial.  The British Academy Early Career Researcher Network brings together ECRs across the humanities and social sciences disciplines, regardless of their funding source or background.

Tuesday 7 November 2023 (3 pm - 4 pm).

By attending this online welcome event, you will learn more about the Network, meet and engage with other Early Career Researchers and address any questions or concerns you have about the Network. We are also keen to learn more about your motivations for joining the Network and your expectations from the Network.  The British Academy Early Career Researcher Network brings together ECRs across the humanities and social sciences disciplines, regardless of their funding source or background.

We are looking for PhD and Early Career researchers to contribute to Exeter’s Research & Innovation blog and write posts that are based on three questions about your work.  If you would like to find out more please email digitalteam@exeter.ac.uk.

We are currently updating and developing the ECR Hub webpages so that we can improve the information and support we provide you. Our aim is to make the Hub a one-stop-shop to help reduce the time you spend searching for key information and support, along with streamlining our communications to you.

If you're organising an event and don't know where to start, take a look at the Corporate Events webpage where you will find lots of useful information and advice including an Events Planning Toolkit!  If you would like to contact the Events Team for further advice email eventenquiries@exeter.ac.uk.

World Mental Health Day is about raising awareness of mental health and driving positive change. It’s also a chance to talk about our wellbeing, how we can look after it and how important it is to get help if we need it. 

By sharing our stories about mental health, we reduce stigma and encourage hope. Why not have a read of your colleagues' mental health stories which have been shared so far via This is Me? These can be viewed and filtered by topic alongside relevant support. Thank you to all colleagues who have already shared their mental health stories. You can share your story anytime (anonymously or with your name) via this form.

There is also a wide range of wellbeing-related events and activities being run this month, you can join in with here.

To find out about the wellbeing-related support available to you, please visit the Colleague Wellbeing pages or contact one of your local Mental Health Champions.

If you’re looking for a supportive environment to talk through any form of grief, loss or bereavement, listen to others, share practical tips and join in with reflective activities, you are very welcome to join our Grief and Bereavement group. All information can be found online. The next online session is Tuesday 31 October (12.30 pm - 1.30 pm). Email ColleagueWellbeing@exeter.ac.uk to join the calendar invitation list.

Why not build a new habit or set aside time to refresh your practice and join us on Thursday lunchtimes?  All colleagues and PGRs are welcome to our friendly, free sessions which run during term from 12.00 noon  – 12.30 pm.  No experience is needed. This is a secular mental training practice that can be helpful in relaxing body and mind, reducing stress and for improving mood, focus and general wellbeing. To join the mailing list for this group contact StaffLife@exeter.ac.uk.

Find out how the University can support Early Career Researchers.  The page includes support from the University, Spectrum.Life as well as a list of networks to support staff wellbeing.