Early Career Academics

Mission & Context

In recognition of the challenges facing early career linguists in the current climate of precarity, this group supports the progression of a diverse community of scholars. The Group seeks to extend the principles in Vitae’s updated Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers (2019) – designed to increase attention to wellbeing and inclusivity through regular reviews of academic environments – by soliciting contributions from peers, senior colleagues, and the wider discipline regarding good practice in institutional, community, and sector terms. The Group’s goal is the universal uptake of quantifiable actions to improve conditions within an acceptable timescale.

This group champions the interests of Early Career Academics in Modern Languages. Members are self-identifying early career linguists, who are likely to be late-stage postgraduates, postdoctoral researchers, teaching fellows, and new lecturers (usually no more than 5 years into a permanent contract). Organisational partners include the Arts and Humanities Alliance, the Association for German Studies, the Association of British and Irish Lusitanists, the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland, the British Academy, the Institute of Modern Languages Research, and the Society for Italian Studies. 

The ECA SIG at UCFL seeks representatives from a range of areas to boost our representation of languages and pedagogic disciplines. We regularly release calls for new reps via our social media and subject mailing lists. However, if you believe there is an urgent case for representation in an area we do not currently cover, please do let us know. The ECA SIG is made up of volunteer members. If you are interested in joining the group or would like to get in touch, please contact the co-chairs of the Group’s Steering Committee, Dr Ashley Harris (harrisa6@tcd.ie), Dr Olivia Glaze (o.f.glaze@exeter.ac.uk), and Dr Llewelyn Hopwood (hopwoodl@caerdydd.ac.uk).

Key initiatives

• Frequent meetings, involving knowledge-transfer workshops on topics such as applying for jobs/grants, developing career strategies, producing high-quality publications in varied forms, and teaching/designing modules. See our Upcoming Events further below.
• An Early Career Code of Best Practice for universities to incorporate into their environment submission for the Research Excellence Framework.
• A mentoring scheme designed to support early career academics in two ways: ad hoc support for specific activities (conference papers, grant proposals, book proposals, etc.), and more substantial year-long mentoring. For more details including how to apply see here.
• A Symposium for Early Career Academics and other opportunities to share research across Languages.

Our Representatives

Our Reps have 3 primary roles, which help the SIG to remain proactive and representative of the field. These are:

1. Collaboration with co-chairs on the organisation of events and resources to the benefit of ECA and PGR academics. 
2. Communication with ECA SIG and advertising our events to contacts and networks. 
3. Reflecting on the strategic and future directions for the ECA SIG, and writing these in meeting reports.  

Our Reps:

	Name	Institution	Role
	Dr Ashley Harris	Trinity College Dublin	UCFL Exec Committee ECA Representative and Co-Chair (French)
	Dr Olivia Glaze	University of Exeter University of Oxford	Co-Chair (Portuguese)
	Dr Llewelyn Hopwood	Cardiff University	Co-Chair (Welsh & Celtic)
	Alexandra Shaitan	Birkbeck College, University of London	Language Teaching (Japanese)
	Noemie Jollet	University of Strathclyde	French and Language Teaching (Scotland Area)
	Jessica Lubini-Hampton	University of Liverpool	Linguistics
	Martina Delfino	University of Liverpool	Portuguese
	Dr Hui-Hua Lu	University of Edinburgh	Translation Studies
	Dr Serena Vandi	University of Oxford	Italian
	Dr Peter Haysom-Rodríguez	University of Leeds	Portuguese
	Matilda Hicklin	University of Bristol	Russian/Slavonic Studies
	Dr Maria Roemer	University of Leeds	Japanese
	Dr Matthew Hines	University of Cambridge	German
	Mona Habeb	ILCS School of Advanced Study, University of London	Middle Eastern
	Lama Aloqili	University of Liverpool	Middle Eastern
	Gefan Wang	King’s College London	East Asian
	Yang Zhang	Goldsmiths, University of London	East Asian
	Anja Rekeszus	University of Reading	Mentoring
	Laura Albertini	University of St Andrews University of Leicester	Language Teaching (Italian/Scotland Area)
	Dr Lucy O’Sullivan	University of Birmingham	Latin America
	James Turner	Swansea University	Spanish/Catalan
	Dr Jayne Duff	Queen’s University Belfast	Northern Ireland Area
	Dr Fransiska Louwagie	University Council For Languages and University of Aberdeen	UCFL Exec SIG Liaison

Upcoming Events

The UCFL Early Career Academics Special Interest Group continues to organise training, networking and support events, and will be doing so over the coming year. 

Upcoming events for this term include: 

1. ECA languages funding opportunities session 

2. Publishing for academic and non-academic audiences 

3. Informal virtual writing social sessions. 

The SIG continue to manage a popular mentoring programme which offers one-to-one support for ECAs in Languages.

Past Events

Funding and Fellowships: Advice for ECAs. Tuesday 23rd April

An overview of the main post-doctoral research fellowships available and general advice on how to develop a stand-out application. We heard contributions by Prof. Hugh Roberts, Director of Research and Impact, University of Exeter and Dr Helen Appleton, Research Facilitator, University of Oxford, followed by a Q&A.

Jobs beyond lecturing: Working in Translation. Friday 16^th February

Natascha Jaeger, Hui-Hua Lu and Maria Roemer discussed the different experiences they have had working in different types of translation before, during, and in between their studies and academic posts. The session looked at the practicalities of working as a freelance translator. If you would like a recording, please contact Ashley Harris (harrisa6@tcd.ie) or Llewelyn Hopwood (hopwoodl@caerdydd.ac.uk).

Virtual Event for ECAs and PGRs in Languages: Jobs Beyond Lecturing

On Friday 27 October 2023, Dr James Illingworth and Dr Fiona Dakin spoke about their experiences of using their skills and interests from a Languages PhD in jobs beyond traditional lecturing roles. We were reminded of the wide range of transferable skills gained during a PhD, given some good advice on job hunting and interviewing, and the priority to seek joy.

An image from the event of common career pathways for those with a PhD in Languages:

UCFL Careers for ECAs in Languages Event

On 12th June 2023, we hosted an event on Careers for ECAs in Languages. This highly attended online session included sessions on ’10 tips for interviews and applications’, ‘Finding a Permanent Lectureship’ and ‘Rethinking your skills’ with a Careers Consultant. The recording can be viewed below:

UCFL New Research in Modern Languages Seminar Series

On 20th April 2022, we held our first seminar series to showcase the new work of Early Career Academics in Modern Languages, starting with a seminar series on French and Francophone Studies. Recordings are available to watch below.

“Understanding the REF”

Our first workshop “Understanding the REF”, was led by Dr Ann Kinzer on 08 December 2021. Ann is an ECA in German Studies and she has been working in Higher Education for several years – as a teacher (for German and Comparative Literature), researcher and as an administrator. She became a REF Impact Officer in 2019 (initially holding this role concurrently with a teaching focused lecturer position). 

As a REF Impact Officer, Ann is contributing to the development of a research impact culture at the University of Kent. She has been working on our impact case studies for submission to REF2021, and post REF continues to focus on facilitating impact development (eg. developing workshops and impact resources, supporting impact funding applications etc.). The recorded talk and the Powerpoint slides from Ann’s presentation are available to download below.

‘Understanding the REF’

Previous Members

Previous members include: