The fourth GYA professional development workshop for at-risk scholars was held in September at Wolfson College, University of Oxford with 22 participants: early- to mid-career scientists and scholars based at universities in the UK. The in-person workshop, aiming to support career development and professional skills in a new academic context, was conceptualised and run by the GYA At-Risk Scholars Initiative, in cooperation with the Young Academy of Scotland , Cara, the Council for At-Risk Academics and the UK Young Academy.
The two day workshop included speakers from universities and the private sector in the UK and Canada, led by workshop facilitators S. Karly Kehoe (GYA alumna, Saint Mary’s University, Canada), co-lead of the GYA At-Risk Initiative Saja Al Zoubi (Saint Mary’s University, Canada) and facilitator Nesrin Alrefaai (London School of Economics, UK).
Objectives of this annual workshop are:
- to help prepare participants to meet the expectations of academic life in the UK;
- to expose participants to ways to find potential professional opportunities inside and outside of academia; and
- to build a network to support participants’ professional development beyond the workshop.
Sessions addressed CV and cover-letter writing, considerations when interviewing, the importance of networking, the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF), grant applications and publishing, and opportuniteis outside of academia.
The GYA received overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants about the inspiration and practical skills achieved through the workshop.
Thank you to additional contributing speakers and organizers:
- GYA alumnus and former Co-Chair Moritz Riede (University of Oxford, UK)
- UK Young Academy (UKYA) member Amit Pujari (University of Hertfordshire, UK)
- UKYA member Ana Blanco Alvarez (Loughborough University, UK)
- Melanie Adrian (Carleton University, Canada)
- Matt Smith (University of ​​Strathclyde, UK) remote
- Harish Bhaskaran (University of Oxford, UK)
- Saeed Akkad (York University, UK) remote
- Abdelrahman Zaky (University of Edinburgh, UK)
- Jennier Plaul (Senior Project Officer, Global Young Academy)
The GYA At-Risk Scholars Initiative holds regular (online and in-person) workshops to support different aspects of career development in host countries, and to raise awareness about the challenges faced by scientists and scholars at risk.
Read more about the Initiative here: At-Risk Scholars Initiative – Global Young Academy