scholarly journals Towards inclusive funding practices for early career researchers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte M de Winde ◽  
Sarvenaz Sarabipour ◽  
Hugo Carignano ◽  
sejal davla ◽  
david eccles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Funding ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
New Principal ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Track Record ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
Global Representation ◽  
Funding Success

Securing research funding is a challenge faced by most scientists in academic institutions worldwide. Funding success rates for all career stages are low, but the burden falls most heavily on early career researchers (ECRs) - young investigators in training and new principal investigators - who have a shorter track record and are dependent on funding to establish their academic career. The low number of career development awards and the lack of sustained research funding results in the loss of ECR talent in academia. Several steps in the current funding process, from grant conditions to the review process, play significant roles in the distribution of funds. Furthermore, there is an imbalance among certain research disciplines and labs of influential researchers that receive more funding. As a group of ECRs with global representation, we examined funding practices, barriers, facilitators, and alternatives to the current funding systems to diversify risk or award grants on a partly random basis. Based on our discussions, research, and collective opinions, we detail recommendations for funding agencies and grant reviewers to improve ECR funding prospects worldwide and promote a fairer and more inclusive funding landscape for ECRs.

scholarly journals Towards inclusive funding practices for early career researchers

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte M. de Winde ◽  
Sarvenaz Sarabipour ◽  
Hugo Carignano ◽  
Sejal Davla ◽  
David Eccles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Funding ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
New Principal ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Track Record ◽  
Funding Agencies ◽  
Global Representation ◽  
Funding Success ◽  
Funding Distribution

Securing research funding is a challenge faced by most scientists in academic institutions worldwide. Funding success rates for all career stages are low, but the burden falls most heavily on early career researchers (ECRs). These are young investigators in training and new principal investigators who have a shorter track record. ECRs are dependent on funding to establish their academic careers. The low number of career development awards and the lack of sustained research funding result in the loss of ECR talent in academia. Several steps in the current funding process, from grant conditions to review, play significant roles in the distribution of funds. Furthermore, there is an imbalance where certain research disciplines and labs of influential researchers receive more funding. As a group of ECRs with global representation, we examined funding practices, barriers, and facilitators to the current funding systems. We also identified alternatives to the most common funding distribution practices, such as diversifying risk or awarding grants on a partly random basis. Here, we detail recommendations for funding agencies and grant reviewers to improve ECR funding prospects worldwide and promote a fairer and more inclusive funding landscape for ECRs.

scholarly journals Gender contributes to personal research funding success in The Netherlands

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (40) ◽  
pp. 12349-12353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romy van der Lee ◽  
Naomi Ellemers
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Women In Academia ◽  
Scientific Disciplines ◽  
Funding Success ◽  
Underrepresentation Of Women ◽  
Personal Research

We examined the application and review materials of three calls (n= 2,823) of a prestigious grant for personal research funding in a national full population of early career scientists awarded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). Results showed evidence of gender bias in application evaluations and success rates, as well as in language use in instructions and evaluation sheets. Male applicants received significantly more competitive “quality of researcher” evaluations (but not “quality of proposal” evaluations) and had significantly higher application success rates than female applicants. Gender disparities were most prevalent in scientific disciplines with the highest number of applications and with equal gender distribution among the applicants (i.e., life sciences and social sciences). Moreover, content analyses of the instructional and evaluation materials revealed the use of gendered language favoring male applicants. Overall, our data reveal a 4% “loss” of women during the grant review procedure, and illustrate the perpetuation of the funding gap, which contributes to the underrepresentation of women in academia.

scholarly journals Mandated Research Peer Review Positively Impacts Research Funding Success Rates for Young Investigators

2019 ◽  
Vol 210 ◽  
pp. 3-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie P. Opipari ◽  
Julie C. Lumeng ◽  
Becky Youmans ◽  
Faye Silverstein
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Funding Success

It takes a village to raise an ECR

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynette Browning ◽  
Kirrilly Thompson ◽  
Drew Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Research Performance ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Research Career ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Track Record

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe organisational strategies that support early career researchers in building a successful track record which can lead to a successful academic research career. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on more than a decade of experience designing, implementing and evaluating professional development programmes for early career researchers in universities. Findings If an early career researcher is to achieve long-term success, the first five years after graduating with a doctorate are critical in establishing long-term career success. Professional development programmes for early career researchers are more successful if they are supported by organisational strategies around workload, performance management and accountability. Originality/value If implemented, these organisational strategies can assist early career researchers to build a successful track record, which can lead to a successful research career and contribute towards increasing aggregate institutional research performance for universities.

scholarly journals Mitigating the impact of conference and travel cancellations on researchers’ futures

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracey Weissgerber ◽  
Yaw Bediako ◽  
Charlotte M de Winde ◽  
Hedyeh Ebrahimi ◽  
Florencia Fernández-Chiappe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Do So

The need to protect public health during the current COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated conference cancellations on an unprecedented scale. As the scientific community adapts to new working conditions, it is important to recognize that some of our actions may disproportionately affect early-career researchers and scientists from countries with limited research funding. We encourage all conference organizers, funders and institutions who are able to do so to consider how they can mitigate the unintended consequences of conference and travel cancellations and we provide seven recommendations for how this could be achieved. The proposed solutions may also offer long-term benefits for those who normally cannot attend conferences, and thus lead to a more equitable future for generations of researchers.

scholarly journals Competing Meanings of International Experiences for Early-Career Researchers: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuke Sakurai ◽  
Sae Shimauchi ◽  
Yukiko Shimmi ◽  
Yuki Amaki ◽  
Shingo Hanada ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Career ◽  
International Study ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Personal Network ◽  
Conceptual Tool ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Community Culture ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Japanese Higher Education ◽  
International Experiences

Although there is a pressing demand for international experience for early career researchers (ECRs), the meaning of this experiences arising from their day-to-day work responsibilities is still unclear. Accordingly, using our emic reflections for this autoethnographic study, we—five Japanese ECRs with years of international experiences—collaboratively explored how we made sense of our international experiences, that is, our distinct capital attained from international study and research experiences. We used Identity Trajectory as a conceptual tool to widely capture ECRs’ key experiences and sense-making. Our reflective conversations resulted in five major themes: (1) global personal network, (2) communicative competence, (3) scholarly community culture, (4) scholarly ambition and (5) pedagogical application. We consistently valued our attained capital, but simultaneously recognised dilemmas while engaging in our work. Lack of institutional support was critical, preventing us from using our international experiential capital and further developing as internationally active researchers. This study offers insights for those who may consider an academic career in Japan after returning from international sojourns and for policymakers promoting the internationalisation of Japanese higher education. Studies such as this one also contribute to the exploration of the value of international experiences for researchers in different contexts.

scholarly journals Empowering Early Career Researchers to Improve Science

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianne A Kent ◽  
Constance Holman ◽  
Emmanuella Amoako ◽  
Alberto Antonietti ◽  
JAMES MBA Azam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Funding ◽  
Systemic Change ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Research Culture ◽  
Extensive Experience ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Communication Of Science ◽  
Scientific System

Early career researchers (ECRs) are important stakeholders leading efforts to catalyze systemic change in the conduct and communication of science. Here, we summarize the outputs from a virtual unconventional conference (unconference), which brought together 54 invited experts from 20 countries with extensive experience in ECR initiatives designed to improve science. The event was focused on why ECRs are needed to improve science and the obstacles they face when trying to promote reform. Our discussions also highlighted the additional obstacles that ECRs in countries with limited research funding experience when working to improve the scientific system. We provide the lessons learned from successful ECR-led or ECR-focused initiatives and outline actions that individuals and organizations can take to further support ECRs who are working to improve research culture and practice.

scholarly journals How to find the right postdoctoral position for you

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. e6
Author(s):  
Dominic M. D. Tran ◽  
Aaron Veldre
Keyword(s):  
Research Output ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
Postdoctoral Position ◽  
Academic Job Market ◽  
The Right ◽  
Quality Of Research

The increasingly competitive academic job market has forced PhD graduates in psychology, neuroscience, and related fields to maximize their research output and secure grant funding during the early postdoctoral period of their careers. In the present article, based on a Q&A session presented at a research retreat (Brain and Behaviour Lab, University of Sydney) in February 2018, we draw on our firsthand experiences of navigating the transition from graduate student to postdoc. We offer practical advice to students who may be nearing the end of their PhDs and planning their first steps toward an academic career. Although the postdoc experience is varied, it is important for early-career researchers to make optimal choices to increase their chances of securing a continuing academic position. Ultimately, the goal of a postdoctoral position should be to develop all the facets of an academic career, but with a strong focus on the quantity and quality of research outputs.

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