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

• RDRC Courses
• Online Writing Groups for ECRs
• Doing Research with Artists - drop in session
• Software Engineering Surgeries
• Research Integrity and Ethics Surgeries
• Thinking about your Career
• Responsible Metrics and how to get involved
• Research and EDI Deep Dives
• Research Grants and Funding
• ECRs selected for GW4 Crucible
• International Women's Day 2022
• Latest Events and Opportunites
• Spotlight on Open Research - How to find out more!
• British Academy ECR Network
• British Library - Latest Research Report
• and much more!

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

Previous copies of Newsletters can be viewed by clicking here.

All courses are delivered online (please click on the course title for info and to book your place).

ECR Core Programme:-
Mapping and Marketing Your Skills - 16/02/2022 (2 pm - 3 pm)
Networking for Researchers - 02/03/2022 (1 pm - 2.30 pm)
LinkedIn for Researchers : Developing and using your Profile - 09/03/2022 (11 am - 12.30 pm)
Applying for Academic Jobs - 15/03/2022 (10 am - 12 noon)
Applying for Jobs Beyond Academia - 22/03/2022 (11 am - 1 pm)
Getting Stuff Done - 30/03/2022 (9 am - 10.30 am)
Research Culture from the Bottom Up - 06/04/2022 (10.30 am - 2 pm)
Planning a Fellowship Proposal - 05/05/2022 (10 am - 4.30 pm)

Research and Innovation Essentials Series:-
Connecting with External Partners and Creating Opportunities - 17/02/2022 (11.30 am - 12.30 pm)
Accessing Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and Industrial Studentship Opportunities - 01/03/2022 (11 am - 12 noon)
Intellectual Property and Commercialisation - 24/03/2022 (10 am - 12 noon)

If you register for any of our above sessions, it is expected that you will attend. If you are not able to attend please log in to the ‘iTrent’ online system to remove your name from the relevant activity before it is due to take place. You will be expected to attend for the whole session and for ease of administration, attendance registers will be taken at the end of each session. Should you need to leave a session early or you experience ongoing technical issues, please email ResearcherDevelopment@exeter.ac.uk.

"Having structured writing time that is set aside forces me to focus on writing when usually other things take over."

"I found this session incredibly useful for providing focused writing time for research. This can be difficult to find within a typical week and I hope to attend more of these sessions in the future."

"It was well structured and gave opportunity for short break in between."

These are just a few of the testimonials received from those who have attended these online ECR groups. These sessions are dedicated support spaces to enable ECRs to work on their own (be that writing a paper, a report, data analysis, reading, a specific task), with support from a facilitator. Time is structured into a series of work and discussion slots, to encourage productivity and sharing of practice. These sessions allow you to block out some time for whatever you are working on, without distractions! You can attend for as long as you need to!

Various dates in February and March are now available - all running 10 am - 12.30 pm - 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.

We are looking to expand our team of facilitators so if you would like to find out more about becoming a facilitator please contact ResearcherDevelopment@exeter.ac.uk.

The next 3 drop-in sessions will take place on Thursday 17 February 2022 (10.30 - 11.30 am); Tuesday 22 March 2022 (2.30 - 3.30 pm) and Wednesday 18 May 2022 (10.30 - 11.30 am). These sessions are for ECRs wanting to work with creative practitioners in their research but are unsure where to start, or what the process involves.  Sarah Campbell, Associate Director for Arts and Culture will be on hand to guide you through how to progress your idea about working with artists and who to ask for help.  To find out more and to register, click here.

These surgeries are for ECRs and run monthly by the University’s new Research Software Engineers (RSEs) Group. The University has created a centralised RSE group that will assist our research community with more complex and bespoke research software needs. The RSE group is part of the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

The software surgeries provide an opportunity to discuss with a member of the RSE team any coding issues, software development tasks, or other research software problems or ideas you have. For example:-

• Discuss bugs or problems you are having, and approaches to finding a solution;
• Get some guidance on how to design and approach your coding tasks;
• Understand the next steps and places to go for getting additional help or working with the RSE team in the long term.

The next surgeries will be held on Wednesday 9 February 2022 (9.30 am - 1 pm) and Wednesday 9 March 2022 (1 pm - 4.30 pm). Appointments are 30 minutes and need to be booked in advance.

To book your place, complete this short form.  Once submitted, you will receive an auto-reply with an MS Bookings link where you can book yourself a timeslot.

The Research Ethics and Governance team, in conjunction with the Researcher Development and Research Culture team, are offering two further monthly Research Ethics Surgeries for ECRs.

These 1:1, 20 minute drop-in surgeries provide an opportunity to discuss any queries, concerns or issues that you may have relating to all aspects of good practice in research, research integrity and ethics.

This could include consideration of the ethical implications of your research project and future research direction, review of your ethics application, identifying regulations and external approval routes for your research where relevant, discussing concerns on research integrity or queries on, for example, authorship, data management and open research practices.

The surgeries are on:

Monday 7 February 2022 (afternoon) and Thursday 17 March 2022 (morning)

To book yourself a surgery timeslot please email a request to ResearcherDevelopment@exeter.ac.uk.

As a reminder, you may be interested in enrolling on the following online courses, facilitated by the Researcher Development Careers Coaches, Kate Foster and Kenneth Howgill:-

LinkedIn for Researchers - Developing and using your Profile - 09/03/2022 (11 am - 12.30 pm)
Applying for Academic Jobs - 15/03/2022 (10 am - 12 noon)
Applying for Jobs Beyond Academia - 22/03/2022 (11 am - 1 pm)

Kate is also offering further 1:2:1 timeslots throughout the Spring.  If you'd like to book yourself a 50-minute online timeslot to discuss your future career direction either within academia or beyond academia, click here.

Career Support – self-paced online career management programme for researchers:
In addition to the 1:1 coaching and career related workshops and webinars we offer, you may be interested in the Career Management for Early Career Academic Researchers MOOC which is now open until July 2022.

Career Management for Researchers is a bespoke online course developed by specialist researcher careers consultants at the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Sheffield. It has been designed for research staff and PhD students who are exploring their career options and preparing for the next stage in their career, whether in academia or beyond. It is a 4 part/week course designed to address key career issues pertinent to researchers. Each week the course content provides a range of articles, videos, reflective activities, exercises and discussion topics. Researchers are encouraged to set aside 3 hours to complete all of the content available each week.

The ECR Liaison Forums are a fantastic opportunity for Early Career Researchers to meet and discuss what their community needs from the University.  In this meeting we will be meeting the candidates who wish to become the new ECR RIEC (Research & Impact Executive Committee), Representatives as well as discussing any issues raised by the ECRs. It is also a great way to find out what is going on with the ECR community. To join email: ResearcherDevelopment@exeter.ac.uk

Do you care that your research is assessed fairly, in its entirety and not based on narrow measures such as where you have published or how many times you have been cited? Responsible metrics is about ensuring that our research culture celebrates all research and research outputs and looks beyond blunt quantitative measures to assess quality. As a signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), we are looking for PGRs and ECRs to join our Responsible Metrics Champions Group, in order to help ensure that this important agenda translates into our own university policy and practice. Those in the early stages of their research career have the most to gain from responsible metrics, so we’re keen to ensure that we have PGRs and ECRs represented on the group. If you’d like to find out more, or think you may be interested in joining the group, please contact Becky Euesden r.s.euesden@exeter.ac.uk.

Research and EDI Deep Dives

We are working to develop an action plan to make our research cultures and processes more equitable, diverse, and just. As part of this, we are planning a series of ‘deep dive’ online meetings with the staff networks to gather information and feedback about our researchers’ lived experience. If you are interested in attending any of the meetings, please email researchedi@exeter.ac.uk for more information. We are also asking all researchers to complete our Research and EDI survey at ex.ac.uk/researchedi.

The Entrepreneurial Researcher Programme (cohort 5)
Deadline - Friday 18 February 2022
APPLY HERE
Applications welcome from researchers from across all disciplines and research areas to explore their ideas for commercialisation.

The programme will enable you to:

• Develop your entrepreneurial competencies
• Explore commercialisation routes for you and your idea (licensing, social enterprise, not for profit or for profit spin outs)
• Connect with like-minded colleagues who share similar ambitions
• Engage and test your ideas with prospective customers, users and key stakeholders during a period of market exploration
• Inform your future research focus, design and impact
• Access seed funding to develop and support promising commercial opportunities
• Introduce you to SETsquared Exeter's support services: part of the world’s #1 University business incubator

Full details can be found by clicking here.

Any queries can be sent to IPCommercialisation@exeter.ac.uk

Cohort 4 participant: “I think it is an excellent programme, and in fact quite unlike any other I have encountered. The amount and quality of support that is given to participants has been exceptional, coupled with an enthusiasm, openness, and can-do attitude that I feel as academics we just do not encounter elsewhere!”

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UKRI | develop basic technologies in sensing and imaging
Deadline Date: Thursday 3 March 2022 (16:00 GMT)
Apply for funding to develop early-stage technologies in sensing and imaging. You must be based at an eligible UK organisation and must collaborate with organisations from other disciplines. Your project must have two co-principal investigators from different research areas.
Learn more and apply

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AUK-BLF Grant Rounds
Deadline Extended to Thusday 10 March 2022
Due to the disruptions caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic deadlines have been extended for the majority of our currently open grant rounds.  For more information visit the Asthma UK or British Lung Foundation websites, or contact research@blf.org.uk.

Check out the Research Toolkit webpages for more opportunities.

Eleven of our early career researchers were selected for this year’s GW4 Crucible programme. GW4 Crucible offers future research leaders a six-month leadership development programme and the opportunity to come together with their peers to consider new interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to research and its impact. The 30 successful applicants from the GW4 Alliance universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter will explore the 2022 theme ‘Building Back Better: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Mental Health and Wellbeing Research’.

International Women's Day 2022
Deadline for Nominations - Monday 14 February 2022
International Women’s Day takes place on Tuesday 8 March 2022 and this year we will be celebrating the UN Women theme ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’, which you can read more about online. We are also accepting profiles alongside nominations, so if you are a woman teaching, researching or volunteering in any of these areas, please get in touch.  We particularly want to encourage nominations and profiles from our PGR and ECR communities. Please use this form to make a nomination or submit a profile by the deadline (above).
 

Social Media Training for ECRs and Academics – Booking Now Open!
From social media ethics and codes of conduct, to implementation strategies for posting research online and creating meaningful industry links and collaborations.  Each session is designed to equip you with the practical techniques and learnings you require to confidently raise awareness of your own work, increase citations and build profile through the use of social media. The workshops will draw upon the University of Exeter’s own academics along with speakers from outside of the sector to provide expert perspectives to using social media for reputation purposes.

To register your place, please select the workshop(s) most suitable for your individual learning requirements:

Social Media Training for Academics - Intermediate/Advanced Session
Tues 8 February 2022 (12.15 pm - 2.30 pm)
For academics who are regular to advanced users of social media.
Book your place and Agenda.

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The Health Resilient Researcher – Dr Joyce Reed, Fast Track Impact
Tuesday 8 February 2022 (11 am - 3 pm) - Online
Cost: £129.95
Register via Eventbrite
The course is based on Dr Joyce Reed’s manual, 'The Health Resilient Researcher', in which she draws on the biomedical evidence base, clinical experience and personal experience of balancing lifestyle and regaining whole health.  During this course you will discover new ways to view personal health and become a more resilient researcher. Start to address the key cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle and help yourself to become significantly more productive as a researcher, whilst finding a more authentic version of you.

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Research Associate opportunity with Cumberland Lodge
Cumberland Lodge are seeking to recruit a freelance Research Associate to support a forthcoming conference, ‘Legitimacy & Confidence in Policing’. This role will include researching and writing a pre-conference briefing document and a post-conference report summarising key recommendations for change. The successful Research Associate will participate in a residential cross-sector conference in Windsor Great Park, an online consultation, and a central London report launch, and will gain skills in public engagement, and have access to brilliant networking opportunities. Travel/accommodation costs are covered where needed.

The conference will be the 40th annual Police Conference organised by Cumberland Lodge. More information about the annual conference can be found here. 
Here’s the link to the Job Description and advert.
Deadline - 9 February 2022.

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Research Associate, Survey Research
The Alan Turing Institute is seeking a Research Associate, Survey Research to play an important role in a six-month research project to study national attitudes to current and future uses of data science and AI.  This is an exciting new role suitable for a post-doctoral level candidate. An early career researcher with solid theoretical foundations in survey research methods as well as experience designing survey experiments and analysing the resulting data. We will consider applicants who have recently finished or are in the final stages of their PhDs. The successful candidate will join the Public Policy Programme and will be a part of a large multidisciplinary team focused on helping the public sector take advantage of the latest generation of data-intensive technologies.
Deadline - 9 February 2022
Apply here

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Early Career Fellowships
For Early Career Researchers, with a research record but who have not yet held a full-time permanent academic post, to undertake a significant piece of publishable work.  Fellowships can be held at universities or at other institutions of higher education in the UK.  The Fellowships are intended to assist those at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, and it is hoped that the appointment would lead to a more permanent position for the individual, either within the same or another institution.  Opens - 1 January 2022. 
Deadline - 24 February 2022.
Decision - May 2022. 
Find out more by clicking here.

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PRISM Exeter’s Speakers series
Monday, 28 February 2022 
Talks from computational chemist and bi trans man, Dr Charlie Wand (“Transitions in science: phase and gender”), and globally-recognised expert on gender- and sex-disaggregated data in non-human biology, Dr Robert Ellis (“Biosciences beyond the binary”). Book your tickets on Eventbrite to join us in-person in Exeter Library or watch the livestream and join in the discussions via Zoom. All are welcome; under-16s must be accompanied by an adult if attending in-person.

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AI UK
22 - 23 March 2022
The Institute will be hosting their flagship two-day conference AI UK, showcasing the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI) research, applied  to the most pressing challenges across multiple disciplines. Click here to find out more.

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NCRM/Exeter Computational Communication Methods Spring School
6 - 14 April 2022
Researchers interested in computational social science will be given the chance to learn new skills at a spring school in April 2022.

The NCRM/Exeter Computational Communication Methods Spring School will provide training at introductory and advanced levels, catering for both social scientists and data scientists.  To find out more and to apply click here.

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Gender Equality Group Membership – Vacancy
The University’s Gender Equality Group is inviting expressions of interest for an ECR Representative vacancy. The Group meets termly for 90 minutes to discuss gender-related issues affecting staff and students and monitors the institutional Gender Equality Action Plan. We particularly welcome interest from ECRs with expertise on gender-related issues, as well as men, who are currently under-represented on the Group membership. Please contact Rae Preston for further information.

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Events for Curious Minds - Agile Rabbit
Agile Rabbit puts on events, normally on the last Thursday of the month, about issues that matter: ideas, culture, global affairs, and the natural and scientific world. They are an opportunity to be in the room with some of the greatest minds in the world—and have a conversation.  For more information, click here.

Dugald Foster, PhD Student and Responsible Metrics Champion, Department of Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter (Penryn Campus) - Jan 2022

"Open Science practices are becoming the norm among researchers who care about the reproducibility, transparency, and societal value of their work. As part of this, there is a rapidly growing desire to publish in Open Access journals, so that the important knowledge contained in research materials can be shared with the world, free from exclusionary barriers such as paywalls. For anyone interested in Open Access publishing - what it is, why to do it, and how to do it - I highly recommend the University of Exeter’s Open Research team’s training materials.

The Open Research team have a wealth of expert knowledge, enabling them to guide you through the (often complicated) world of journal types, publishing fees, and various options for publishing your work to maximise its readership and value. If it weren't for watching the training videos I would never have learned that the University can actually provide funding for researchers at all career stages to enable them to publish in OA journals! There's also a lot of useful information on data management plans, using repositories, and navigating funder requirements."

In addition to the resources available online, the Open Research Team regularly deliver the following webinars and training sessions (click on the links to find out more):

• Open Research – Publications, Data and beyond –part of the Research and Innovation Essential Series designed for ECRs and Academics.
• What is open access? Part of the Researcher Development and Research Culture team’s PGR core training programme.

Early Career Research Networks (ECRNs) are designed to help support our Early Career Researchers in the beginning stages of their career. The ECRNs are designed to help raise awareness of new developments in a particular field: new tools, processes, leaders, training programs, and services. They are also an opportunity for collaborative problem solving and to get advice from your peers. To find out more about the Networks and who your Network Rep is click here.

Calling all humanities and social sciences Early Career Researchers – Sign-Up to the British Academy’s Early Career Researcher Network!

The Academy, in partnership with the Wolfson Foundation is piloting, for two years, an Early-Career Researcher (ECR) Network for ECRs in the humanities and social sciences.

The Academy aims for the network to be a researcher-led and an inclusive humanities and social sciences network, accessible to all researcher regardless of their funding source or background. This will ultimately be a UK-wide network tailored to researchers at postdoctoral level in the humanities and social sciences disciplines.

The objectives of the network are:

• To support the individual researchers to realise their potential by providing opportunities that they do not currently have access to.
• To contribute to equality of opportunity for researchers through encouraging diversity and inclusivity.
• To develop networks to nurture and facilitate greater engagement between and across researchers and the wider research community, regionally and nationally.
• To draw on the Academy’s unique ability to convene and nurture intersectoral collaboration to create unique opportunities for researchers.

The network is being piloted in the Midlands and the South West region of the UK.

To join click here!

The British Library's 2019-20 Research Report has been published and celebrates the resilience and achievements of staff, students, fellows and partners, despite and in response to the global pandemic. AHRC Executive Chair Professor Christopher Smith shares his reflections on the importance of Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships, and we include a range of case studies that bring the breadth of our work to life. 

Click here to read the report.

You can also get the latest Concordat updates and events by signing up to their newsletter when registering with their website.

Already registered and want to receive Vitae News? Contact Vitae direct

See the latest news update on the Concordat here.

This COVID quick reference guide. This has been developed to help colleagues find key pieces of COVID 19 information and links quickly. It also includes information on what will happen in the event of COVID 19 case(s).

Information updated 26 January 2022!
Please remember to check the University Travel Policy for Colleagues before booking any travel for work purposes.  Due to the ongoing uncertainty and changes surrounding the pandemic, our travel advice is regularly updated and therefore might change. The information covers both international travel and trips within the UK. Find out more click here. If you have any concerns, please do contact researchrestart@exeter.ac.uk and the research restart panel will be happy to discuss any bespoke issues that require further support and consideration.

Library Search is your key gateway into the print and electronic resources available to you via the Library. It is available 24/7 from your desktop or device, wherever in the world you are located.

It will enable you to find recommended readings and search across a wide range of full text resources to discover materials on your research topics.

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.

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

Colleague Grief and Bereavement Group
The University Chaplaincy and Staff Wellbeing teams have launched a Colleague Grief and Bereavement Group - a support network for colleagues experiencing any form of Grief or Bereavement. The group is a safe space for sharing/listening and practical/reflective activities, rather than a counselling environment. We have now set dates for groups at both campuses until the end of the year. Please click here to find out more and register your interest in attending. This group is open to all staff regardless of your worldview or religious faith. Further support is available here.

Spectrum Life
If you’re finding things tough at the moment, please don’t forget we can all make use of our free and completely confidential Employee Assistance Programme, Spectrum Life, available 24/7 365 days a year for you, your partner or spouse and any dependents over the age of 16, still living at home.