Community of Early Career Researcher Networks (CECN)

The Community of Early Career Researcher Networks (CECN) aims to strengthen the broader research ecosystem.

Terms of Reference

The Community of Early Career Researcher Networks (CECN), aims to strengthen the broader research ecosystem, with a particular focus on supporting those with research responsibilities and currently in the early stage of their research career. This may include but not restricted to postdoctoral research fellows, doctoral candidates, research assistants, technicians, clinical research trainees, and professional service staff conducting research as part of their role responsibilities (here after referred to as Early Career Researchers (ECRs)). The CECN is an evolution of the Research Staff Consultative Group (RSCG) in response to feedback from the early-stage researcher community and its allies. 

The CECN seeks to:

• Amplify ECR voices to shape strategic initiatives relating to ECR employee experience and career development
• Foster dialogues between relevant functions and the ECR community
• Enable co-creation and piloting of new initiatives to enhance ECRs’ journey at UCL 
• Encourage Early Career Researcher Network (ECN) collaboration and networking
• Raise ECNs profile and their impact beyond the local level
• Provide opportunity for career development through institutional citizenship
• Demonstrate a positive environment and culture

Specifically, the CECN is a space to:

1. Establish a robust consultation body with respect to the ECR stakeholder community, providing a forum for those in their early career-stage to input to their employee experience and staff lifecycle.
2. Enable two-way communication between wider ECR communities and functions overseeing the delivery of UCL strategic priorities.
3. Make sure ECRs are actively included in UCL’s HR strategies and policies by engaging with guest speakers who lead key HR initiatives. This helps ensure that ECRs’ views are recognised and passed on to the People and Culture Committee (PCC), a formal governance committee at UCL.
4. Identify priorities for change and improvement within existing activities, practice and policies that relate to ECRs to ensure that UCL develops and maintains a first-class environment for nurturing research excellence.
5. Make recommendations to the Research Culture roadmap action plan through the Research Culture Community Steering Group (RC CSG), which feeds into the Research Culture Programme Board (RCPB) and subsequently reports to the RIGE Committee (RIGEC), also one of UCL’s formal governance committees.  
6. Feed into the development and implementation of strategies for the career development of early career researcher and academics in accordance with the principles of Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework and the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers.
7. Feed into the action plan to deliver the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers.
8. Feed into reviews of internal and external, national and international policy developments relevant to research staff development (e.g. Researchers14 Group, League of European Research Universities Career of Researchers and HR Policy Group) and coordinate UCL’s responses to ensure UCL remains compliant and sector leading.
9. Share best practice and learning of communication and engagement with ECRs.
10. The recommended length of service for members of the CECN is two years. To facilitate a smooth transition of membership and effective knowledge transfer, members may extend their service period to allow for reasonable overlap with their successors. Members must ensure successor planning as part of local ECN chairs/co-chairs/deputy chairs/representatives’ election process.
11. The Chair of the CECRN will represent consolidated ECR voices as a core group member at the RC CSG termly meetings.

Community of Early Career Researcher Network (CECN) membership

Chairs and deputy chair: a nominated Chair or representative of a local ECN
Chair: Dr Yasemin Didem Aktas
Deputy Chairs: Dr Francesca McCarthy and Dr Dan Kelberman

CECN ex officio members:

Senior Leadership Representative: Prof Geraint Thomas (PVP Doctoral School & ECR ex officio)
Faculty Directors of Operations representative: Geoff Dunk

Chairs and representatives of Early Career Researcher Networks (ECNs): 

Professional Services Staff and Academic representatives with researcher development responsibilities: