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The ECR Symposium hosted by the Sussex Researcher School (SRS) on Thursday 13 June brought early career researchers together for a day of discussion, career development and celebration.

Prof Kristine Langhoff, interim Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Knowledge Exchange, kicked the day off with a rallying cry on how to craft a research career, approaching with curiosity and self-forgiveness, building interdisciplinary connections, and seeking out teams that allow you to be your whole self.

Drawing on her own experiences, she urged the audience to stick to their values, get on board with ‘impact and knowledge exchange’ agendas in a way that feels inspiring, and to remember that you are as smart and amazing as your friends, colleagues or best cheerleaders think you are.

At the Diverse Careers Roundtable, Prof Langhoff was joined by researchers who have followed different but equally inspiring paths inside and away from academia:

• Dr Elizabeth Rendon-Morales, senior lecturer in Electrical Engineering and advocate for female leadership
• Dr Dominic Dean, literature researcher and Sussex’s Senior Research Quality and Impact Manager
• Dr Esther McMahon, Education lecturer at the University of West London and research associate with Sussex CIRCY
• Dr Henry Dore, Engineering and Informatics research fellow
• Dr Rosy Favicchio, molecular biologist and senior editor at Nature Protocols

Challenging questions from the audience led to a lively discussion that touched on opportunities for skill-building, requesting flexible working, benefits of professional services roles, the ‘publish or perish’ academic journal model, and alternative ways of evidencing impact for REF. The session was live-blogged on the @SussexResearchr X account.

There were several talks and workshops throughout the day. Becca Randall and Amanda Ferrell from Applied Research Collaboration Kent, Surrey and Sussex (ARC KSS) led a session on developing a policy brief; Dr Rebecca Webb (ESW) introduced techniques including freewriting and clay modelling to stimulate creativity around writing; and a joint workshop by HR, SRS and Dr Rendon-Morales aimed to demystify the ECR promotions process. Feedback gathered during the last session was hugely helpful and will inform future iterations.

Creative approaches to ECR research

The Symposium was also a chance for ECRs to share their exciting research with colleagues. The Image Competition, judged by librarian Maggie Symes and University photographer Stuart Robinson, offers a glimpse into the work of researchers from very different backgrounds, and this year’s entrants took a wonderfully creative approach.

Louisa Rinaldi (Psychology) claimed first prize for a witty and clear visual representation of misophonia, a condition that triggers intense emotional responses to sounds like chewing, slurping and tapping. Louisa is developing measures to test for misophonia, and explores how the condition affects wellbeing, mental health and cognitive development.

Second place went to Rachael Durrant (Business School) and People’s Choice to Jo Tregenza (Education and Social Work). You can view shortlisted entries on our ECR Research Image webpage; congratulations to everyone who entered.

Over lunch, recipients of this year’s Research Culture Seed Fund awards showcased their initiatives designed to foster a more creative, inclusive and collaborative space for researchers. This year’s projects included a software engineering network (Jamie Knight), a roundtable series on academic publishing (Natacha Rossi), work to widen access to Sussex’s Black Studies Legacy Collection archive (Alice Corble and Myisha Box) and an International Relations seminar series based around episodes of Star Trek (Faiz Sheikh).

Gem Aellah (BSMS) also invited attendees into her Black Box of Policy audio-visual installation, an innovative and creative way of engaging with stakeholders and enacting policy change. 

Dragons' Den winners announced

The day ended with an exciting live Dragons’ Den, which saw ECRs bid for £2,000 in funding to support small research projects. Grecia Garcia Gracia (Engineering and Informatics) took top prize on the day, with an excellent pitch on the development of tactile diagrams to give visually impaired students fair access to scientific information. The funding will support work with stakeholders at exam boards and schools.

Saber Sotoodeh (Psychology) came second, pitching a phone app to enable early diagnosis of dyspraxia in children, and Antonio Hinojosa (Life Sciences) won People’s Choice.

Congratulations to all of the participants, who will receive mentoring from the Dragons: Psychology ECR lead Theodores Karapanagiotidis, Sociology lecturer Ulla McKnight and Peter Lane from the Sussex Innovation Centre. Keep an eye out for an interview with Grecia over the summer.

Further information: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/research/researchstaff/community/ecr-symposium

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