EDI Caucus Survey

Dear UKPN members, 

Passing on this survey from EDI Caucus - it's an opportunity for those within the research and innovation sector in the UK to demonstrate to funders how their work has been affected by Covid-19. 

Best wishes, 

Ellie 

UKPN Vice-President 2023-24

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Eleanor Maedhbh (Ellie) Honan (she/her)

PhD Candidate at Durham University and the British Antarctic Survey 

Department of Geography | Durham University | Durham | DH1 3LE | UK

ANTSIE  | eleanor.m.honan@durham.co.uk

UK Polar Network | eleanor.honan@polarnetwork.org

I sometimes send emails outside of standard working hours. I do not expect others to do so. 

Navigating funding and fieldwork event

Dear UKPN members, 

This is a reminder to sign up for the fieldwork and funding event at Durham on October 14th 2023. This is open to all polar scientists in all natural and social sciences.

The workshop is open to everyone and will cover the full process of deciding to go on fieldwork to submitting a grant. Also Dr Julian Martin from the RGS will speak virtually about the RGS grants and the process of applying to those. 

After the main workshop there will be a panel discussion for those who are LGBTQ+ and ethnic minority Polar researchers to discuss going on fieldwork and the issues faced in particular by those groups. There is funding for those who are part of LGBTQ+/ethnic minority communities to cover costs for attending the event so please come along!

Please sign up below:

Navigating funding and fieldwork forms.gle

Thanks, 

Millie

EDI Officer 2023/24

UK Polar Network (https://polarnetwork.org/)

Twitter:@UKPolarNetwork

Survey on the lived experiences of women on polar fieldwork

Dear UKPN members, 

I'm sending on the below survey, created as part of a working group featuring some of the UKPN leadership team - please do take the time to fill it out if it is relevant to you.

Best wishes, 

Ellie 

___________________________

We are an international research collective of PhD students and APECS members, the Association for Polar Early Career Scientists. We are working together on a review article as part of a collaboration between the journal PLOS Climate with members of APECS. Our article aims to identify recent developments and critical points of action within polar research, and proposes strategies to remove barriers to participation and improve the experiences of women in polar fieldwork. 

By filling out this survey you would help us document and gather empirical evidence on the polar fieldwork experience of researchers who identify as women. Filling in the survey takes about 5 to 15 minutes and will be completely anonymous. Thank you in advance!

https://forms.gle/spVMdwU231nGYnFD7

Surveying the lived experiences of women on polar fieldwork forms.gle

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Eleanor Maedhbh (Ellie) Honan (she/her)

PhD Candidate at Durham University and the British Antarctic Survey 

Department of Geography | Durham University | Durham | DH1 3LE | UK

ANTSIE  | eleanor.m.honan@durham.co.uk

UK Polar Network | eleanor.honan@polarnetwork.org

I sometimes send emails outside of standard working hours. I do not expect others to do so. 

EDI Event on navigating fieldwork and funding at Durham University

Dear UKPN members, 

UKPN has been very kindly awarded an EDI Fund grant from Durham University to hold a session for Early Career Researcher's on funding fieldwork and navigating interpersonal relationships whilst on fieldwork! Below is the link to sign up:

Navigating funding and fieldwork forms.gle

It was felt across the board it was very important to bring together underrepresented researchers in the North East to network together and discuss the issues that affect us going to do Polar fieldwork in any capacity. This is especially key post-COVID-19 as many of us were not able to conduct much if any fieldwork over our undergraduate degrees or masters/first year of PhD. This means we may not have had the chance to develop those fieldwork planning skills, understand the timelines involved in UK-based grants, and know how to write or have access to previous examples of winning applications. The North East Universities have also become major players within UK Polar Science such as the hosting of CPOM at Northumbria, Durham's and Newcastle's strong presence within Arctic and Antarctic research, and the presence of several NERC DTP's where many undertake Polar related research.

This event is aimed at LGBTQ+ and ethnic minority researchers in the North East with 50 funded places for individuals fulfilling those criteria available. There is £30 available per person for travel so that cost will not prevent those who can benefit from this attending. Allies are welcome to join the workshop on grant funding but they will not be funded for attending. If you are unsure about whether your university is in the North East please contact edi@polarnetwork.org to discuss this further. 

The event will take place on Saturday 14th October between 9am and 12:30pm. 

Firstly, there will be a workshop on first the process of finding funding to writing grants and everything in between open to everyone.

Next, Dr Julian Martin from the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) will join us virtually to provide a comprehensive overview of the RGS grants programme for PhD research and to answer any questions attendee's might have. All are welcome to this session.

Finally, the panel discussion will be a closed session so we would ask anyone who is an ally to respect the private nature of this session and not attend. This will centre on navigating fieldwork and understanding what considerations should be taken into account when encountering different situations out in the field specifically for LGBTQ+ and ethnic minority researchers to ask questions/discuss issues in a welcoming environment.

Afterwards there is an optional lunch social in the Manley Room with the opportunity to get to know other Polar researchers. Please bring along food for this if you would like to come!

Thanks, 

Millie

EDI Officer 2023/24

UK Polar Network (https://polarnetwork.org/)

Twitter:@UKPolarNetwork

Scottish Arctic Network (ScAN) Webinar Series

Dear UKPN,

 

The Scottish Arctic Network (ScAN) would like to invite you to our inaugural webinar series, where we will showcase the work of Scotland-based Arctic researchers. The webinar is interdisciplinary and will cover a range of physical and social issues pertinent to the Arctic. Attached is a flyer with dates and times for upcoming webinars.

 

Details for the next webinar are as follows (abstract below):

• Date: Wednesday 28^th September
• Time: 12:00-13:00 BST
• Presenter: Dr Kate Gormley (University of Aberdeen)
• Title: Environmental impacts and horizon scanning for sustainable Arctic marine infrastructure
• Booking Link: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/scottish-arctic-network-scan/webinar-environmental-impacts-and-horizon-scanning-for-sustainable-arctic-marine-infrastructure/e-yxelrb

 

Registration for future webinars is also open here and more information on ScAN and its activities is available on our website. We welcome attendees from across the globe and are eager to bring together an international audience to engage with this webinar series.

 

Best wishes,

Will

 

 

 

Dr William D. Harcourt

Interdisciplinary Fellow

Room 111, St Mary’s Building

Interdisciplinary Centre for Data & AI

University of Aberdeen

 

Twitter: @will_harcourt

Website: www.williamharcourt.co.uk

 

The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683.
Tha Oilthigh Obar Dheathain na charthannas clàraichte ann an Alba, Àir. SC013683.

Royal Society Career Development Fellowship

Dear UKPN members,

The Royal Society has just announced a new Early Career Fellowship for those of Black and Mixed Black heritage. It aims to retain researchers in STEM subjects and is a 4 year postdoctoral scheme. 

What does the scheme offer

• Up to £690,000 over four years to cover the Research Fellow's salary and associated on-costs (at 80%), directly allocated costs (at 80%) and research expenses; A high-quality programme of training, mentoring and engagement to support career development
• Flexibility to accommodate personal circumstances including part-time working. There is also provision for maternity, paternity, adoptive or extended sick leave.
• Applicants can request relocation and visa costs for themselves and their dependants (partner and children). These costs can be requested in addition to the total grant cap of £690,000 over four years. 

You can apply for the pilot scheme if you: 

• Self-identify as being from a Black heritage including mixed Black background
• Have a PhD or will have one by the time the funding starts; but have less than 24 months post-doctoral experience

Both UK and non-UK domiciled researchers who wish to conduct their research in the UK are eligible. 

Here is a link to the call with further details of eligibility and the application process: https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/career-development-fellowship/

Applications open 7th November 2023.

Thanks, 

Millie

EDI Officer 2023/24

UK Polar Network (https://polarnetwork.org/)

Twitter:@UKPolarNetwork

Grant writing experience survey

Dear UKPN members, 

UKPN will be running an event aimed at new/early Polar postgraduate research (PGR) students, generally Masters by research and PhD's, who have never had to write grants to cover fieldwork costs before due to COVID-19. This meant there was not the opportunity for students to develop those skills earlier on in their careers and to go on independent fieldwork. As this is an important part of an academic career and can be useful for a non-academic career UKPN felt it was important to share structured guidance about this rather than having individuals rely on ad hoc advice from supervisors of varying quality. I will be sending out more details about this event and sign up's in the near future!

I am looking for Early Career Researcher's (ECR's) who have been on fieldwork for their Polar PhD within the last 5 years and fundraised to cover either the whole or part of their costs to do this. It would be really useful to understand what particular things you think might have helped you to get those grants and any particular recommendations you feel might be useful when applying for those grants. Any experience with any funders are welcome as I recognise that money can come from a variety of sources and more than one pot of money can be used to fund a piece of fieldwork!

All responses will be anonymised and your PhD institution is being collected just to ensure there are a wide range of responses across all universities in the UK.

Please answer as much as you can and it should take no more than 10 minutes total to fill out the survey.

Grant experience forms.gle

Thanks, 

Millie

EDI Officer 2023/24

UK Polar Network (https://polarnetwork.org/)

Twitter:@UKPolarNetwork