Early Career Researchers Hub   :   ECR Training and Development

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

ECR Researcher Development & Research Culture Programme

RS & IIB Essentials 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.

As part of the ‘Focus Space’ speaker programme, we are delighted to be able to secure Hugh Kearns from ‘ThinkWell’ who will present this Webinar, via Zoom.

Would you like to know the secret to high output, low stress scholarly writing? In academia it is often assumed that writing comes naturally.  However, an overwhelming body of research shows that there are very clear and practical strategies that can greatly increase your writing productivity.

As a result of attending, you will be able to understand:

• why it's hard to get started;
• how we deliberately use distractions to slow down writing;
• the principles of quick starting;
• how to deal with destructive internal beliefs;
• how to set a writing plan and stick to it;
• how to set achievable goals by writing in a silo;
• how to greatly increase the number of actual words you produce;
• how to clarify your thinking and improve the quality of your work.

The Research and Innovation Essentials Series was created to distil essential information that researchers need to know about the research grant lifecycle, from application to grant management, including what support researchers can draw upon to get the best possible outcome. The Series was created to meet the requirements of various career stages and offers an opportunity to meet members of Professional Services and Academics that specialise in specific areas of the research lifecycle to discuss how they can support you.

Upcoming Live Webinar:

Open Research - Publications, data and beyond - 27/09/2023 (12.30 pm - 2 pm)

Thursday 18 May 2023

Living System Institute (Streatham Campus)

Final reminder to sign up for 'Presentations with PogLSS' which will be held in the Living Systems Institute WEH and Seminar Rooms on Thursday 18 May 2023.

Our annual student-led PGR and ECR Conference aims to bring people together from across all the different faculties at Exeter. There will be talks about PhD placements, talks on social media management, and most importantly, showcases of your work. An additional ‘Three-minute thesis workshop: building confidence in rapid story telling’ session will be held on Tuesday 9 of May for those who apply.

If you would like to attend or present your work at the Conference, please submit posters and 3 min flash talk abstracts by 17:00 on Friday 5 May. There will be prizes for the best posters and talks!

This activity is a Researcher-led Initiative that has been funded by the University of Exeter Researcher Development and Research Culture team.  Please submit your poster here.

Sunday 21 May 2023 (from 10.30 am onwards)

The Exeter Phoenix Bloom Festival is a day of community activity in support of mental health and wellness. Meet with organisations and communities who are there to support mental health and wellbeing in Exeter and the South West.

• Take part in FREE activities - all programmed with feeling better in mind! (Bring the family along - there will be activities for all ages!)
• Share your thoughts and experiences in panel discussions and at our Open Mic hosted with Spork! Poetry.

Monday 22 May 2023 (1 pm - 2 pm)
Delivered via Zoom

This activity is a Researcher-led Initiative that has been funded by the University of Exeter Researcher Development and Research Culture team.

ReproducibiliTea Exeter is a journal club aiming to promote Open Science (a movement to make research more accessible and transparent). On 22 May, Dr Gilad Feldman from The University of Hong Kong will talk about how he works with students and ECRs on over 120 replications and extensions of classic findings in psychology, and has built dozens of collaborative resources (tools, templates, and guides) to assist others in implementing open-science.

Dr Gilad Feldman is happy to have additional conversations after the talk and show what his ECR team’s process and outputs looks like. If you would like to talk to Dr Feldman, please contact Xinran Du at xd247@exeter.ac.uk.

22 - 24 May 2023

The Pint of Science 2023 Festival will simultaneously bring thousands of scientists and their research out of the lab and into pubs, cafes and community halls near you. The three-day festival has events in over 25 countries around the world. University of Exeter researchers will be speaking at different venues across the city!

Each night will provide a unique line up of talks, demonstrations and live experiments held in a relaxed and informal environment. Alongside the main talks, this year audiences go head-to-head in the largest ever multi-city pub quiz, in association with interactive quiz company, Kwizzbit. Teams in each venue compete against others across the city and the rest of the UK as they tackle a series of science-themed questions to prove which city has the strongest trivia knowledge.  Please contact posexeter@gmail.com with any queries.

Wednesday 24 May 2023 (2 pm - 4 pm) - Reed Hall, Upper Lounge (Streatham Campus)

This in-person Masterclass is aimed at postgraduate students and staff with interests in questions of repatriation, restitution and the return of artworks from western collections to their countries of origin. This in-person event will be led by Professor Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll (Central European University), a leading theorist and historian of coloniality and the arts who has a long track-record of producing both major academic interventions in the field, as well as contemporary artistic responses to such debates. Refreshments provided.  If you have any queries contact societiesandcultures@exeter.ac.uk.

Thursday 25 May 2023 (11 am - 1 pm) Reed Hall and Reed Hall Gardens (Streatham Campus)

This is an in-person event, including a ‘walk and talk’ element in Reed Hall gardens. The event is hosted by Prof Tom Trevor (Languages, Cultures and Visual Studies).  Refreshments will be provided.

Following from her Repatriates masterclass, Prof Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll will lead this event, discussing two further projects which unpack the contemporary legacies of colonialism, through consideration of material cultures, ‘museopiracy’ and the histories of plants.

If you have any queries contact societiesandcultures@exeter.ac.uk.

Friday 26 May 2023 (11 am - 12 noon)
Delivered via Zoom

This activity is a Researcher-led Initiative that has been funded by the University of Exeter Researcher Development and Research Culture team.

On 26 May, Jan Vornhagen from the Aalto University (Finland), will talk about transparent research practices in Computer-Human Interaction (CHI) in Play. Both CHI researchers and non-CHI researchers are welcome to join if you are interested in looking into transparent reporting practices and how to advocate for transparency in fields that are more on the side of the Replication Crisis.  If you would like more information, please contact Xinran Du at xd247@exeter.ac.uk.

Tuesday 19 September 2023 at Loughborough University

Are you looking to connect with postdoctoral researchers from all disciplines and universities in the UK? The Call for Abstracts for the National Postdoc Conference 2023 is now open for you to share your work and contribute to the conference.

This year’s theme is “Transitions and New Horizons” and is a great opportunity for you to share your research and the way in which it is impactfully driving change, as well as hearing the work being done by other researchers across all areas of research.

Your abstract can be submitted for presentation at the NPDC23 as an in-person workshop; in-person presentation; on demand content; or a poster which you will have the opportunity to present to fellow attendees at the conference.

Deadline : Wednesday 31 May 2023 (3 pm)

This scheme, part of the Royal Society's Industry programme, enables scientists employed in industry or academia and/or their postdoctoral researcher to have shorter more dynamic engagements between academia and industry, working on a mutually beneficial and collaborative project.

Next meeting for your diary:-
Tuesday 1 August 2023 (10 am - 11.30 am).

All ECRs can attend an 'ECR Liaison Forum' (ECR LF).  The LF's 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.

Wednesday 10 May 2023 (2 pm - 2.45 pm)
Online via MS Teams

Exeter Research Networks are interdisciplinary, virtual research groupings. They bring together University of Exeter researchers and external partners to tackle pressing societal challenges. The DVC (Research & Impact) Neil Gow will introduce the scheme and academic leads from the network will tell the audience about the vision for their networks and how colleagues can get involved. There will also be time for Q&A.

Friday 26 May 2023 (10 am - 6 pm)
University of Gloucester

This session focuses on collaboration and cross disciplinarity in creative practice research. Projects will be presented and discussed from a range of positions across fine art, music, environmental social science research, feminisms, and sculpture. A key area of discussion will be mentoring, and forms of knowledge exchanged with those operating outside the academy.  Reasonable travel and accommodation can be provided by the British Academy.

Thursday 8 June 2023 (9.30 am - 1 pm)
Bristol

This networking event has been designed specifically for ECRs involved in education in its widest sense including Initial Teacher Education and disciplines with a research connection and interest in education. The event will provide an opportunity to network in a structured way around themes identified by participants in their registration before the event as well as hear from more experienced researchers in education with strong track records in the external bidding process.  Reasonable travel and accommodation can be provided by the British Academy.

Monday 12 June 2023 (9.30 am - 4.30 pm)
Peter Chalk, Streatham Campus.

This activity is a ECRN Enhancement Award Activity funded by the University of Exeter Researcher Development and Research Culture team.

Are you looking for a way to connect with fellow Faculty of Life Sciences early career researchers and share your experiences?

Join us for our FLS ECR Networking event for a day full of opportunities share your experience, learn from those within and outside the university and faculty, relax and connect with others within and across departments in the faculty. The day will include a poster session, a choice of wellbeing sessions, lunch and refreshments, and panels all designed to help you connect with those around you.

Are you a blog writer fiend? ......

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.

Calling all researchers!  You will have already received a unique URL to complete the CEDARs survey (created by Vitae - formally known as the CROS and PIRLS surveys). This is a chance for you to let the University know how well we are doing when it comes to supporting our researchers. The survey is open until Friday 16 June 2023 and should only take around 15-30 minutes to complete. We will donate £1000 to the charity of choice for the faculty with the highest response rate.

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.