In June, YERUN is organising a series of four online events dedicated to early career researchers. Discussing about current challenges, stakeholder experiences and policy initiatives, participants will exchange views along four main themes: intersectoral mobility, mentoring, the impact of funding schemes on careers, and the practical challenges faced by university services to implement career policies.
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The first event on Early career researchers & intersectoral mobility will take place on Friday 9 June from 12:30 to 14:00 CEST:
Favouring the mobility of researchers between academic and non-academic sectors has been a long-lasting objective of both policy-makers and Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) in Europe. For early career researchers (ECRs) in particular, acquiring the right skillset for intersectoral mobility can provide additional employment opportunities. At the same time, the current academic assessment systems often make it difficult for researchers working in the private, public or non-profit sectors to return to academia – and it may even become increasingly unappealing to do so. This session convenes ECRs, university and RPOs representatives, and policy-makers to discuss the challenges attached to the intersectoral mobility of ECRs, as well as ways forward to overcome them.
Featured speakers:
- Yensi Flores Bueso – Steering Board Member, Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment | Global Young Academy
- Dario Capezzuto – Policy Officer, European Commission, DG for Research and Innovation
- Jouni Kekäle – Chief Senior Specialist, Human Resources Department, University of Eastern Finland
- Margaux Kersschot – Policy Adviser, Young Universities for the Future of Europe at University of Antwerp | Coordinator, DIOSI-project
- Mostafa Moonir Shawrav – Marie Curie Alumni Association
- Saša Zelenika – Vice-Rector, University of Rijeka
Interested in attending this session? Register here.
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The second event on Mentoring early career researchers and staff in universities will take place on Friday 16 June from 12:30 to 14:00 CEST:
Mentoring can facilitate the professional development of both early career researchers and university staff. It can also become a useful instrument in the toolbox of equality, diversity and inclusion policies. Although mentoring can take place organically, concrete action is needed to support it and foster a culture of mentoring in academia. This session reviews some of the challenges and solutions found by universities to develop and make good use of this practice.
Featured speakers:
- João Amaro de Matos – Vice-Rector of Nova University Lisbon and Vice President of YERUN
- Inma Andrés – Student Programmes Manager & Research Advisor, Brunel University London
- Oleksandr Berezko – President, EURODOC – European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers
- Aurélie Carlier – Tenure-Track Associate Professor at the MERLN Institute, Maastricht University; Co-founder and vice-chair of FEM – Female Empowerment Maastricht University
- Alison O’Regan – Head of Learning and Development, University of Limerick
- Francisco Valente Gonçalves – Director, RUMO – Mental health online platform
Interested in attending this session? Register here.
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The third event on Funding schemes and their implications for early academic careers will take place on Friday 23 June from 12:30 to 14:00 CEST:
Temporary and competitive sources of funding make up for a sizeable share of the financial resources universities rely on year by year. This in turn has an effect on the types of contracts and career prospects universities can offer, especially to early career researchers. Moreover, project-based funding concerns research, whereas careers in academia also involve gaining experience and being active in other domains, notably teaching. The variety of regional and national employment and social security rules governing contracts and careers adds another layer of complexity to this picture. This session is dedicated to unfolding some of the concrete effects of available funding schemes and of certain employment rules on (early) academic careers in Europe.
Featured speakers:
- Luísa Henriques – Co-sponsor of ERA Action 4 on Research careers, FCT advisor and senior policy analyst
- James Morris – Senior Policy Officer, Science Europe
- Simon Roy – Head of Higher Education Policy, OECD
- Julia Sievers – Head of Academic Affairs, University of Bremen
- Karen Vandevelde – Human Resources Director, University of Antwerp
Interested in attending this session? Register here.
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The fourth event on Practical challenges of implementing policies for early academic careers (by invitation only) will take place on Friday 30 June from 12:30 to 14:00 CEST:
Universities are the recipients of a number of policies, which often have to be dealt with by different services in parallel (research departments, education departments, human resources departments, etc.). Early career academics are now targeted by several concomitant initiatives, whereas university services also have to implement other policies concerning knowledge valorisation, innovation, infrastructure, open science or gender equality, amongst others. Such policies may take different forms; increasingly, they are formulated as conditions to funding on which universities rely year by year. In addition, different policies may be decided at different levels – institutional, regional, national, European. How do universities and their services grapple with the variety of overlapping objectives they are supposed to tackle at the same time? This closed session convenes stakeholders and policy-makers to engage in constructive discussions on the practical challenges of implementing policy for early academic careers, alongside the other objectives set for European universities.
Please note that this session will take place in a closed format and upon invitation only! If you are a policy-maker, a university representative or another stakeholder from the sector, please complete this form to inform us on your interest in participating in our roundtable discussion – we will make sure to invite you to join in the conversation!
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Early registrations for the four events are now open! Stay tuned and keep an eye on our website and social media to find out soon details on the programme and invited speakers of our series! We look forward to seeing you in June!
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