ECR lunches 2022/2023 Academic Year

Throughout the academic year we hold bimonthly Early Career Research Lunches where early career researchers and all other university staff intersted in the topics are welcome to join for a free lunch and discuss various career-related topics together with a peer network who are in a similar career stage.

Upcoming lunches are annoucend via the University newsletters, our social media channels and on the screens at the faculties as well as on our website!

The Power of Storytelling: Public Speaking & Science Communication, May 2023

Do you want to learn to effectively communicate your research to the public? Join this YAG Early Career workshop, where Lisan Assen will train you to use storytelling for effective science communication. Lisan has plenty of experience helping prepare researchers to present and pitch their research to grant committees.

 In this workshop, we will cover the fundamentals of effective storytelling to help you master the art of crafting a compelling lecture for a lay audience. You'll gain practical skills and knowledge for writing and giving your speech. Using storytelling, you will be able to present your ideas in an accessible and compelling lecture.

The new Interdisciplinary Schools, February 2023

As interdisciplinarity is an important pillar of the Young Academy Groningen, we are excited about the recent establishment of the four interdisciplinary schools at University of Groningen. As an ECR, you might be curious about what these schools can offer to you, as well as how you could potentially contribute to the schools in the future. During this lunch in February, each director of the four schools told us about their plans and ambitions. We will use the remainder of the time to discuss how the schools can contribute to ECR’s and how ECRs could contribute to implementing these plans. 

Speakers:

• Ming Cao Jantina Tammes School for Digital Society, Technology, and AI
• Frans Sijtsma Rudolf Agricola School for Sustainable Development
• Lorenzo Squintani Wubbo Ockels School for Energy and Climate
• Brigit Toebes Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health

What’s all that talk about "academic freedom“?, October 2022

In recent years, a broad variety of incidents - from student protests against specific speakers on campus, to public outrage against scientists and funding cuts - have been described as threats to "academic freedom." But what exactly do we mean by academic freedom? How is it different from other rights, such as freedom of speech or freedom of assembly? Who is responsible for achieving, maintaining and protecting academic freedom? And what limits can legitimately be imposed?

Programme:
During this ECR lunch, we want to reflect on the concept of "academic freedom" and focus on the various constraints - ethical, political, practical - that researchers experience. We invite you to read the KNAW report about academic freedom (or the summary) beforehand, and we will kick off the session with some critical reflections. Then we’ll share experiences of constraints in teaching and research. We’ll round off the discussion by reflecting on the institutional structures in which academic freedom needs to be implemented as well as the current situation in the Netherlands and at the RUG.