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ECR report
Early career researchers are the lifeblood of research, and the Centre is heavily invested in providing development and opportunities for ECRs. To facilitate this goal, the Centre elects representatives to form an ECR Committee each year, with two representatives on the Centre’s Research Committee, and one on the Executive Committee.
In 2022 the ECR Committee consisted of Ben McAllister, Markus Mosbech (Research Committee) and Irene Bolognino (Executive Committee).
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With border closures and restrictions easing for the first time in the Centre’s history, 2022 was a year to get ECRs talking, and kick-start the Centre’s inter-node collaborations.
The first goal of the Committee in 2022 was the orchestration of a survey, to capture the opinions and demographics of ECRs. The results were shared with the Research and Executive Committees. Unsurprisingly, given the largely remote nature of the Centre thus far, many ECRs reported feeling somewhat disconnected from other nodes, unsure of their place in the Centre, and not yet actively engaging in collaboration.
With this information in hand, the Committee set about organizing the first in-person ECR workshop, factoring in ECR feedback on what they would like to see at such an event, and a desire from the Centre executive to increase collaboration and a feeling of belonging.
The workshop was a major milestone for Centre ECRs, allowing many to meet members from other nodes in person for the first time. This was held at the Novotel Geelong in November, in conjunction with the Centre annual workshop.
The schedule included science lectures, research presentations from ECRs, a communication workshop, and social and networking events. The workshop was a great success, with positive feedback from participants, and more than 85% of respondents in the postworkshop survey reporting feeling more a part of the Centre than previously, and more likely to collaborate across nodes.
This year also saw the implementation of initiatives to support ECRs, including an onboarding package to help people new to the Centre understand the structure, and the launch of a Strategic Initiative Grant Program to fund ideas and new collaborations from ECRs, which will have its first round in 2023.
