School of SSESW colleagues Leanne Henderson (pictured), Sultan Turkan and Daniel Muijs (Head of School) are collaborating on the delivery of ‘How to develop more reach for your research’, an Early Career Researcher (ECR) Conference being hosted by Ulster University on 3 November for the British Educational Research Association (BERA). It features keynote lectures, a series of practical hands-on workshops and networking opportunities for ECRs.

Leanne Henderson has been involved with the BERA ECR Network since 2018 when she took up the newly created position of Northern Ireland Regional Representative on the ECR Network Committee. Five years later, she is Co-Convenor of the nationwide ECR Network and works alongside regional representatives, including Nicola Marlow (NI Rep) at Ulster University, to create opportunities for BERA to support ECRs across the UK in new and innovative ways. The ECR Network community is made up of Masters and doctoral students, those who have completed their studies within the past five years, and practitioner researchers.

The challenges facing ECRs are well known within the education community and BERA has adopted the support of this group as one of its strategic priorities. This incorporates academic work, including ‘Education: The State of the Discipline’, which considers challenges disproportionately impacting ECRs, such as increased casualization and use of teaching-only contracts, and aims to equip decision-makers with objective and powerful information. In addition, BERA offers a range of immediate supports, including bursaries for events and the annual BERA Conference, small research grants, awards for ECR presentations and the prestigious Masters Dissertation Award and Doctoral Thesis Award. The first BERA ECR Conference was held in Leeds in May 2023 and planning is underway for 2024.

In addition to a number of dedicated ECR events taking place as part of the 2023 BERA Conference, the BERA ECR Network runs online and in-person events throughout the year for members and non-members. An online ECR Coffee Hour will take place on 20 September.

Leanne Henderson encourages ECRs to avail of the support available from the BERA ECR Network: "Do come along to these events and get involved. The idea of ‘having to network’ is enough to turn the chattiest ECR into a wallflower but we promise that these supportive events have a real sense of community and you will connect with kindred spirits (and potential collaborators!)."