ECRN Enhancement Fund Awards 2022
Early Career Researcher Network (ECRN) Enhancement Fund 2022
The Researcher Development and Research Culture team received funding from Research England to support the development and enhancement of research culture related activities across the University of Exeter.
Funding was made available for current Early Career Researcher Networks (ECRNs) to enhance, promote and re-establish network activities or to create new ECRNs in departments that do not yet have an established ECRN. This fund was also available for re-establishing networks that had been adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 8 successful award holders for 2022 were:
An ECRN focused on researching and widening participation in the academic and business world of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) will include a series of monthly meetings that will open dialogues for thinking around industry issues with new ideas generated from interdisciplinary gatherings. A website to manage the network will be created focused on monthly blogging about topics like inroads into CSR, strategies connected to specific fields and industries, interviews with CSR professionals and new MOOCs dedicated to CSR (of which there is a growing number).
Increasing connectedness in the ECR community in our department through the physical bringing together of ECRs across research groups in Biosciences. This will be done through a kick-off social, lunch and coffee after each workshop and event and a social quiz at the end of our series of events.
This project includes the development of a compassionate creativity culture club to enhance wellbeing, creativity, and promote engagement by presenting new opportunities to bring ECRs together from Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences, and Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. This will involve a series of online and face-to-face webinars, interventions, and enhancement activities and provide a forum for ECRs to share ideas and develop relationships across departments.
This ECRN includes Bi-weekly wellbeing and social groups to enable community building and networking to strengthen social ties and prioritises mental health and general wellbeing. As well as a mini-conference that will allow for an opportunity for PGRs and ECRs to share their research and network, something that has been limited due to the pandemic.
With the exciting opportunity to take over the booking of a Youth Hostel near Land’s End, the space shall be used to champion ECR research and to build new collaborations. The event will revolve around a one-day conference where ECRs present their research and create a friendly environment where ECRs can get to know each other, with long walks and other outdoor and indoor activities to socialise.
INWED22 event is aimed to encourage, support and promote early-career female researchers including postgraduate students (MSc & PhD), research assistants, postdocs, newly-appointed lecturers and their equivalents in CEMPS. The event will take place with an exciting presentation competition (from early-career female researchers) and networking opportunities.
A full day of networking for ECRs including: poster presentations, speed networking sessions, talks from established leaders in their field, workshops on building relevant skills, creative arts and wellbeing sessions, and a delicious free lunch. There are two parallel events- one at Positive Lights in Exeter, and the other at the Penryn campus in Cornwall with virtual links between the two sites.
The LSI ECRN are organising an event held in-person and online, which includes the Life in Science talk, focusing on (career paths in science, a Q&As session and a panel discussion on what makes a good scientist, followed by in-person breakout discussions and online breakout rooms, to reflect on opportunities for our own life in science.