What have we been up to?

Laura Navarro
Australian Academy of Science
@navlala

A lot has happened since the last Pathways Newsletter. As Australia was preparing to go into lockdown, the EMCR Forum Executive got together (via Zoom) to discuss how they could support members of the EMCR community during a time when a lot of researchers are feeling vulnerable. Two opportunities were identified to achieve this goal: online events and a survey looking at the impacts of the pandemic on researchers.

Online events

Since April, the EMCR Forum Executive has hosted six online events covering a wide range of topics relevant to EMCRs. The virtual catch-ups have provided a space for EMCRs to connect with researchers from outside their organisation and openly discuss the challenges, frustrations and unexpected perks of being a researcher during the pandemic. A big thanks to the ~170 EMCRs who joined these events and shared their experiences.

If you are interested in finding out more about these opportunities, we invite you to read the collaborative article Dr Vanessa Wong and Dr Alexie Papanicolaou wrote with the attendees of the ‘Supervising HDR students during COVID-19’ catch-up for Franklin Women in their May newsletter. The article presents the main challenges and opportunities identified during the catch-up.

The recording of the Where to next? Career planning in uncertain times EMCR Forum catch-up is available to watch online. The event was facilitated by EMCR Forum Executive Co-Deputy Chair Dr Vanessa Wong, and featured insightful discussions and tips by invited speakers Dr Melanie Zeppel, Professor James Arvanitakis and Dr Anne-Sophie Dielen.

Find out more about the online events hosted so far. More events will be announced through the EMCR Forum mailing list and Twitter soon.

Survey on the impacts of COVID-19 for EMCRs

As Dr Emma Beckett mentioned in her article, the EMCR Forum Executive is currently crunching the numbers and working on the report of our survey on the impacts of COVID-19 for researchers. This report will be available to all EMCRs through EMCR Forum channels and will guide the advocacy activities of the Forum with relevant organisations and funding bodies. It will help to ensure EMCRs are supported and heard during these difficult times.

The EMCR Forum Executive was also invited to share insights from the survey on the ABC TV Program The Drum on 4 June 2020. In a quick interview, Dr Vanessa Wong shared insights into the importance of supporting research and researchers during the pandemic, as well as the risks Australia faces if it lets down its research workforce.