ECR lunches

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!

You can also sign up for our ECR mailinglist to receive annnouncements about events and to stay updated about YAG activites.

ECR lunches in the 2023 / 2024 Academic Year

May 2024: Social Safety project at UG

The YAG invites you to their next ECR lunch 'Social Safety project at UG'. 

• When: Tuesday, 28 May 2024, 12 noon - 2 pm

• Where: Academy Building, Broerstraat 5, 1st floor, Bruinszaal

Participation in this event is free and a vegan lunch is included.

Sign up using this form until May 22!

Description:

Social safety at universities remains a hot issue, for example with recent headlines about a report on social safety, or the lack of it, at TU Delft. The RUG has begun a campaign for social safety awareness last year (https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/policy-and-strategy/social-safety/?lang=en) - and did you know that a link to information about what to do in case of „undesirable behavior, incident, accident“ has been inserted at the bottom of every intranet web page? 

But these are just some first steps. In this ECR lunch, the project leader for social safety Anne-Marie Petter, will present the longer-term plans for improving social safety. Moderated by Lisa Herzog (YAG member, philosophy), we will create room for a discussion about this planned program and the issue of social safety in the academic world more broadly speaking, with a specific focus on the situation of early-career researchers. 

April 2024: Communicating your science better: Storytelling, body language, and voice control (Canceled)

• When: Tuesday, 30 April 2024

• Time: 12 noon - 2 pm

• Where: Academy Building, Broerstraat 5, Bruinszaal

Communicating science to broader audiences is challenging. Especially for early career researchers, who are typically only trained to speak to expert communities at conferences or seminars. However, it is increasingly important to convey your message clearly to different audiences.

This ECR lunch is aimed at improving your individual science communication skills with the help of our experienced speaker and actress Eva Pantelakis. Eva is an expert on storytelling, body language and voice control. Eva will give hands-on tips on how to improve your science communication and make it appealing to a broad audience. You will learn actionable techniques you can readily use in your next science communication activities to create the impact you desire.

March 2024: Was it something I said? Challenges of entering the public debate as an Early Career Researcher

Date: March 6th 2024, 12 noon - 2 pm

Time: 12 noon - 2 pm

Where: Academy Building, Broerstraat 5, Bruinszaal

Being involved in public outreach, being available for the media, and having an active presence on social media are part and parcel of being a modern academic researcher and professional. However, in current times this can also mean getting trolled, doxed and harassed online for something you said in the media or for the kind of research that you do. 

This ECR lunch is aimed at discussing how to navigate today’s complex media environment as an early career researcher and what support is in place to help you. After a short introduction by the YAG, two invited speakers share their experiences and expertise: YAG-member Alberto Godioli will talk about his own recent encounter with online harassment as an academic, and Annelene Hofstetter of University Services will talk about the support in place in cases such as this. The second half of the workshop is dedicated to small group discussions in which experiences are shared, gathering the wants and needs of the ECR community. 

Speakers:

Dr. Alberto Godioli, Associate Professor in European Culture and Literature

Annelene Hofstetter, Policy Advisor Integral Safety, University Services

This ECR lunch is the first in a series to address various aspects of social safety in academic life, organized by the Young Academy Groningen.