Early Career Researcher Network Late 2023

Four 15-minute sessions in our Garden Marquee, pairing early career researchers with British Academy Fellows, friends, staff and funded researchers, offering opportunities for feedback and ideas. Sign up for speed networking.

For more informal networking, our Garden and No. 11 Lobby bars will offer space to meet with peers and members of the British Academy.

A series of six conversations suggested by members of the Early Career Researcher Network, exploring issues pertinent to life and work as an academic.

Each conversation will be guided by a British Academy staff member, featuring an Early Career Researcher, a British Academy Fellow and an industry expert.

These talks are designed to be interactive, so bring your questions, stories and ideas!

The value of networking

Council Room 5.30-6.30pm

Molly Morgan-Jones (British Academy, Chair), Patrick Haggard FBA, Cristina Galalae (University of Leicester), Felicia Odmattn (Founder, The Black Economists’ Network)

The juggling act: balancing academia and family life

Wolfson Room 5.30-6.30pm

Georgina Fitzgibbon (British Academy, Chair), Diego Pajarito (University of Glasgow), Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey FBA, Fariba Soetan

Build your resilience reserves: how to handle rejection and imposter syndrome, and avoid burnout

Council Room 6.45-7.45pm

Fiona Asokacitta (British Academy, Chair), David J. Mattingly FBA, Rounaq Nayak (Bournemouth University)

Where to next? Routes into – and out of – an academic career

Wolfson Room 6.45-7.45pm

Alex Lewis (British Academy, Chair), Ian Christie FBA, Kasia Tomasiewicz (cultural historian and co-host of Cursed Objects podcast)

Making your research accessible to a public audience

Council Room 8-9pm

Ruairí Cullen (British Academy, Chair), Charles Tripp FBA, James Poskett (British Academy Book Prize-shortlisted author), Kirsty Sedgman (University of Bristol)

How to engage your research in the policy landscape

Wolfson Room 8-9pm

Joanna Thornborough (British Academy, Chair), Sarah Curtis FBA, Sarah Jasim (LSE), Thomas Smith (LSE)

Watch previews of some of our film screenings.

Weaving Knowledge

75 minutes

Professor Karen Wells (Birkbeck, University of London), Dr Peace Tetteh (University of Ghana), Professor Dr Erdmute Alber (University of Bayreuth)

Project partners were Afrikids, Pan Togo, and West Africa Research Centre. Fieldwork was conducted by Fatou Kiné Diouf.

Shot in villages in rural Northern Ghana, Maritime Togo and Central Senegal, the film depicts children making textiles and weaving, transforming matter, playing games and making toys.

How Has Solar Building Impacted Villagers in India?

11 minutes

Dr Carol Maddock (Swansea University)

Renewable energy (RE) transitions are critical for mitigating climate change and India is a key player – but we do not know if RE transition is equitably beneficial, particularly for those reliant on fossil fuels in everyday existence. This film was produced in Khuded (Maharashtra) to reflect changes that are most important to villagers individually and as a community.

Should we Create Gene Drive Grey Squirrels?

18 minutes

Professor Sarah Hartley (University of Exeter), Tom Law (Filmmaker)

Gene drive governance focuses on the decisions that shape how controversial gene drive technology is funded, developed, regulated, and possibly tested and deployed. This short film uses the case study of gene drive squirrels to kickstart a debate on the broader development of genome editing in wildlife.

Art and Gender in South Sudan

5 minutes

Professor Tamsin Bradley (University of Portsmouth), Dr Louis Netter (University of Portsmouth)

Exploring the research findings on violence against women, gender, and artistic practices in South Sudan through animation.

Mhara Pichchar (‘Our Cinema’)

10 minutes

Dr Alice Tilche (University of Leicester)

This community-led project aims to understand the visualisation of the COVID-19 pandemic among India’s most marginalised indigenous communities, an outcome of a British Academy-funded grant titled ‘Disturbing Images’.

When the Dust Settles

30 minutes

Dr Maria Abranches (University of East Anglia)

Co-produced with Amy Lythgoe, Ayoola Jolayemi, Nihaya Jaber and participant refugee families in Manchester and Glasgow.

Understand the lived experience of refugee families, one or more years after the arrival of relatives through the process of family reunion in the UK. Increasing knowledge in this area will have a direct impact on the work of organisations such as project partner Together Now.

Delhi 2.5

16 minutes

Produced by Amit Bose and Siddharth Subramanian. Part of a collaboration between Dr Pawas Bisht (Keele University), Dr Sabina Kidwai (AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia), Dr Eva Giraud (University of Sheffield) and Sudeshna Devi.

The film examines the devastating health impacts of air pollution in New Delhi, foregrounding the experiences of the city’s younger generation. Part of a project seeking to generate new, more empowering, and effective narratives to tackle the catastrophic challenge of urban air pollution confronting India.

Older people, Internet use and online safety

Music Room 11am–5pm

8 min

Dr Snehasish Banerjee (University of York)

The video shows some of the challenges that older people face during their online information search, along with recommendations for key stakeholders who could support older people's online experience.