ESAI Early Careers Network

What does ESAI offer Postgraduate Students and Early Career Researchers?

ESAI membership entitles early-stage researchers access to networking with like-minded people and well-established researchers across the environmental science community. 

The ESAI Early Careers Network (ECN) will work alongside the ESAI council to help bring together ideas and concepts from students, researchers, supervisors and course organisers on how to improve our overall activities and spread the word of ESAI’s awards and projects to the wider environmental science community.

What is the ESAI Early Career Network?

The ESAI Early Career Network aims to promote communication, interaction, and peer support among environmentally conscious postgraduate students and early career researchers by facilitating social and networking events. Our objectives are to: 

• Provide a communication platform: Provide a national forum to disseminate postgraduate and early career research within disciplines related to environmental science. 

• Promote networking and learning: Facilitate interaction among postgraduate students and early career researchers through workshops, seminars, and social events. 

• Early research mentoring: Provide a supportive platform to facilitate mentoring and peer support for early stage researchers. 

• Career development: Facilitate professional networking and information about environmental careers.

• Community engagement: Encourage awareness of environmental issues and solutions in the wider community.

Recent News and Events from the Early Career Network:

• May 2022 – Issuing of our first inaugural newsletter highlighting the inspiring research currently being carried out by 8 of our early-stage researcher including UCC's Irene O Callaghan, who has just being named ESAI Postgraduate Researcher of the Year 2021!

• June 2022 - Make sure to meet us at the Postgraduate Network stand at this year's Environ conference.

• Sept 2023 – A name change from the ESAI Postgraduate Network to the ESAI Early Career Network to include both postgraduate students and those engaged in research activities up to 5 years post PhD or Masters.

The ESAI newsletter and website offer postgraduate students opportunities to disseminate their findings and promote their publications, as well as access support and feedback on their ongoing research.

How do I join?

Early stage researchers automatically become a member of the ECN upon joining ESAI – you don’t have to do anything! The ECN representatives will ideally consist of students from all of Irelands Higher Education Institutions.  Members of the ECN must be either a postgraduate student or a postdoctoral researcher (under 5 years research experience).

ESAI also encourages ECN members to request tailored events and workshops, from trainings to talks by invited speakers. So do ask for what would be useful to you, and reach out to us if you need any connections in the environmental field in Ireland!

To submit your interest in joining the group, please contact Padraig & Nikky at earlycareers@esaiweb.org.