SPECTRUM and SPARK EMCR Workshop

Conferences
Networking
EMCR Network
Career advice and professional develop for our junior researchers
Author

Johanna Monk

Published

February 13, 2023

Our Annual Meeting provided a great opportunity for our Early and Mid Career Researcher to meet the previous day for professional development training. About 45 participants attended, including Masters and PhD students, recently graduated post doctorate researchers and senior researchers.

Photograph of the EMCR network in the conference room at RACV Cape SHanck. There are three rows of people, and there are approximately 40 people in the shot.

The EMCR Workshop took place at Cape Schanck RACV Resort on the afternoon of Monday 13 February, the day before the SPECTRUM and SPARK Annual Meeting commenced at the resort. Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to meet in person and get together in some interactive professional development activities that were both fun and developed our communication skills. Discussions involved lots of questions and sharing of experiences.

Workshop activities:

  • An overview by Dr Michael Lydeamore, chair of the EMCR Network, on effective project management and managing a project budget.
  • Jahin Tanvir, CEO of Australian School of Entrepreneurship (https://www.ase.edu.au/entrepreneurship) presented on public speaking and led participants in some very noisy and fun interactive group activities. He gave lots of insight into the evidence and his experience in learning to present in front of a group of people.
  • Javin presented on personal branding followed by a very robust discussion on social media. Researchers spoke of their experiences of the benefits and challenge of platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn.

Participants enjoyed networking over lunch and afternoon tea. They finished the day with a dinner at St Andrews beach brewery where they were able to chat about highlights and learnings from the day.

The EMCR network is an active group of researchers who have created connections and initiatives that have assisted in developing the SPECTRUM and SPARK consortia. They hold regular online meetings for training and networking.