Capacity Building of Early Career Researchers Through Cross-Institutional Mentoring

Fenton, Angela; Walsh, Kerryann; MacDonald, Amy

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-27508-6_12

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…However, as stated in Sobey et al (2013) "most networking opportunities are found at higher levels." We (the MEASO ECR community) encourage ECRs to engage in mentoring programmes, research groups within their community and seek sponsors who can enhance their confidence, visibility, credibility, and professional networks (Ansmann et al, 2014;Fenton et al, 2016;Gottlieb and Travis, 2018;Bohleber et al, 2020). The academic environment has changed rapidly over the last decades (Pitt and Mewburn, 2016), and the issues ECRs face now are most likely different from those their mentors faced earlier in their careers.…”

Section: Pressure To Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overcoming the Obstacles Faced by Early Career Researchers in Marine Science: Lessons From the Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean

et al. 2020

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Pressure in academia and science is rapidly increasing and early career researchers (ECRs) have a lot to gain from being involved in research initiatives such as large international projects. But just how inclusive are they? Here we discuss experiences of ECRs directly involved in the Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean (MEASO), an Australian led international research project to assess the status and trends of Southern Ocean ecosystems. We review the benefits of ECR involvement in largescale initiatives to the project deliverables, the leadership team and ECRs themselves. Using insights from MEASO, we outline the obstacles that may become barriers to ECRs in scientific research in general but with a focus on large-scale research projects and suggest potential actions to overcome these at the individual, institutional and scientific community level. We consider the potential for ECRs to lead future Antarctic science programmes with a focus on science communication and applied research for policy makers within a global setting.

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Section: Pressure To Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overcoming the Obstacles Faced by Early Career Researchers in Marine Science: Lessons From the Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean

et al. 2020

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“…Here, mentoring schemes such as those facilitated by the cross‐institutional Collaborative Research Networks implemented in Australian universities (Fenton et al. ) could be useful in connecting ECRs to a wider network of peers via their mentor. Having support from more senior academics is particularly important because ECRs will not be able to challenge broader academic and institutional barriers on their own without a degree of professional risk (Oni et al.…”

Section: The Future Of Interdisciplinary Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Participants stated that senior academics and institutions are crucial for supporting ECR networking and collaboration, and setting an example of how interdisciplinary teamwork can be done well. Here, mentoring schemes such as those facilitated by the cross-institutional Collaborative Research Networks implemented in Australian universities (Fenton et al 2016) could be useful in connecting ECRs to a wider network of peers via their mentor. Having support from more senior academics is particularly important because ECRs will not be able to challenge broader academic and institutional barriers on their own without a degree of professional risk (Oni et al 2016, Gibson et al 2019, and need their mentors to act as allies and advocate on their behalf.…”

Section: Creating Spaces and Opportunities For Collaborationmentioning

confidence: 99%

An early career perspective on encouraging collaborative and interdisciplinary research in ecology

et al. 2019

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There is a growing need for collaborative and interdisciplinary research in addressing global ecological challenges, and early career researchers (ECRs) often play a vital role in such ventures. But despite the desire for such approaches, forming new and interdisciplinary collaborations is risky, and disproportionately so for ECRs, whose perspectives on this topic are rarely heard. Here, we present common perceptions among ECRs regarding opportunities for intra‐ and interdisciplinary collaboration, and barriers preventing such collaboration from taking place. We also discuss possible solutions, and the ecological outcomes of fostering more collaboration. The perceptions discussed have been distilled from a two‐day workshop in New Zealand, aiming to investigate the potential for collaboration between 34 ECRs in distinct ecological disciplines across ten research institutes. Commonality in methodology or research aims was vital for potential collaborations to be considered worthwhile, but differences in spatial or temporal scales were a key disconnect that hindered numerous potential crossovers. Individual connectivity and institutional structures were commonly perceived as barriers to acting collaboratively in general. Specifically, barriers included having a small peer network, lack of access to funding, and concerns over the risk/reward ratio of forming new collaborations. Overcoming barriers will require active, practical support from institutions, funding bodies and mentors, and participants commonly called for specific funding support and the creation of ECR‐focused spaces to better foster collaborative behavior. Fostering interdisciplinary ECR collaborations in ecology was perceived to be useful in creating larger and more useful datasets and tools, and more scalable and transferable models and outcomes. Adopting practices that facilitate more ECR‐led interdisciplinary collaboration will help generate a more integrative understanding of ecological systems globally.

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Capacity Building of Early Career Researchers Through Cross-Institutional Mentoring

Cited by 2 publications

References 25 publications

Overcoming the Obstacles Faced by Early Career Researchers in Marine Science: Lessons From the Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean

Overcoming the Obstacles Faced by Early Career Researchers in Marine Science: Lessons From the Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean

An early career perspective on encouraging collaborative and interdisciplinary research in ecology

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