Digital Futures at the University of Manchester held their first Early Career Researchers (ECRs) network event on 27th July 2023. The primary goal of this network is to bring Early Career Research Staff from various disciplines and faculties, encouraging the exchange of ideas and perspectives, ultimately leading to innovative and collaborative research breakthroughs. The event proved to be an exciting opportunity for ECRs to present their research, learn from others, and explore the wider opportunities that the Digital Futures platform can offer.
The event commenced with registration and a delicious lunch, allowing attendees to initiate discussions ahead of Professor Chris Taylor, the Director of Digital Futures opening the event with an inspiring introduction, emphasising the importance of interdisciplinary collaborations in tackling complex challenges.
The core of the event consisted of engaging presentations from ECRs, each presenting their research projects and insights. The presentations highlighted the diverse range of topics under exploration and underscored the event's interdisciplinary nature. Among the presenters, Maryam Ghaffarisaadat discussed her work on "Towards autonomous political institutions," while Saskia Lawson-Tovey captivated the audience with research on "Creating lasting cultural change around RDM and FAIR practices in a sensitive health data setting." Louise Laverty followed with a presentation on the "Transparent Digital Future," and Chimdimma Onah concluded with insights into "Collaborative modelling and model selection - an application to healthcare reimbursement." Each presentation demonstrated interesting concepts and sparked intriguing conversations among the attendees.
Following the presentations, we had a coffee break and networking session, where ECRs had the opportunity to engage in informal discussions, exchange ideas, and form connections across disciplines. The event ended with a "World Cafe Workshop Section", enabling participants to delve deeper into specific topics of interest through group discussions. This interactive session facilitated conversations, allowing researchers to explore potential synergies and discuss ways to enhance opportunities for collaboration.
Thank you again to everyone who attended and we hope to welcome you back to the next ECR network event shortly. Click the links below to sign up to our ECR network to keep up to date with all the latest events and opportunities.
For those who missed this event, there will be further upcoming opportunities and events within the ECR network. Those who are interested in participating in future events or presenting their research are encouraged to reach out to lucy.forth@manchester.ac.uk to be a part of this exciting interdisciplinary journey.